


ohana

by beached_writer



Series: Ohana [1]
Category: Lilo & Stitch (2002), The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Bounty Hunters, Canon-Typical Violence, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Guilt, Inspired by Fanart, Interdimensional Travel, Let Mando Say Fuck, Let Nani Say Fuck, Mild Language, Multi, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, it's about the found family of it all, tl;dr din djarin becomes the weird pelekai family uncle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:41:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21896071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beached_writer/pseuds/beached_writer
Summary: All Mando wanted was a place to settle down. A safe place to call home. Things didn't go exactly according to plan....Space hijinks and bounty hunters lead to the Mandalorian and his young charge finding themselves stranded in a world far, far away, not so long ago. Taken in by a strange, dysfunctional family, the Mandalorian finds that solace can be found in the most unlikely of places, and that he isn't alone, and hasn't been for a long time, and maybe he really can find a home after all.
Relationships: Baby Yoda & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV), Din Djarin | The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV) & Baby Yoda (The Mandalorian TV), Din Djarin | The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV) & David Kawena, Din Djarin | The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV) & Lilo Pelekai, Din Djarin | The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV) & Nani Pelekai, Din Djarin | The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV) & Stitch | Experiment 626, Lilo Pelekai & Stitch | Experiment 626, The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)/Paz Vizla, minor Jumba Jookiba/Wendy Pleakley
Series: Ohana [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1605826
Comments: 59
Kudos: 183





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This was all inspired by [this adorable art of Baby Yoda and Stitch](https://www.theshirtlist.com/kawaii-baby-t-shirt/), which is apparently [one of many](https://www.theshirtlist.com/aloha-kawaii-t-shirt/) by Alberto Cubatas ([@albertocubatas](https://www.instagram.com/albertocubatas) on Instagram, [@albertocubatas](https://www.deviantart.com/albertocubatas) on DeviantArt, and on [NeatoShop](https://www.neatoshop.com/artist/Albertocubatas)).
> 
> What follows is more of a prologue than a true chapter, written in twenty minutes while watching episode five and mostly unedited, beyond remarks from my judgmental little sister.

All he could remember of the crash and what led up to it, was another failed attempt to find somewhere to lay low for a little while. Somewhere tranquil and calm, away from bounty hunters and danger. Somewhere to raise the child and keep him safe. That was all the Mandalorian wanted. Was that so hard?

Now they were racing through time and space, pursued by yet another bounty hunter. One who hurled better insults over the comms than he did shots. Unfortunately as inadequate as his aim was, he makes up for it in his piloting skills. Mando can't shake him, as hard as he tries. Nor can he get into any position to return fire.

That's when it happened. Their pursuer got lucky. Or unlucky depending on your definition of events. One of his many volleys of shots finally detonated something of worth. He took out the hyperdrive, which for all intents and purposes should have put them dead in the water. So to speak.

Mando wasn't sure how to accurately describe what happened next. He tried to use this moment, as the hyperdrive exploded in a shower of sparks, to gain the advantage he'd been desperate for. He yanked on the brakes and tried to throw the throttle into reverse. Anything to gain distance between them as the bounty hunter no doubt lined up for the kill shot. What happened instead was that the ship began to roll, flipping end over end, tossing about the contents and passengers of the ship. The last thing the Mandalorian knows is being flung to the side, and a sharp pain in the side of his head.


	2. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shipwrecked on an unfamiliar planet, injured and stranded, the Mandalorian is desperate to reunite with his child. He finds a lot more than he bargained for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! A chapter late, but time for proper introductions. I've been obsessed with The Mandalorian since it launched. I haven't written publicly since I left college. So I apologize. I hope you enjoy. Forgive me, for there's a bit of a whump ahead.

The Mandalorian awoke in a state of confusion and agony. All he knew was that every part of his body ached, and his head was ringing like an alarm. For those first moments, he couldn’t remember anything, including why he was in such great pain. With a heavy groan he felt somewhere in his ribcage, he finally opened his eyes. At first, he was in a daze. All he could see was long, dangling tendrils of breathtakingly colorful flowers hanging down from lush trees, like the tentacles of some gentle beast. It was a beautiful sight, and it triggered a feeling of calm. Until he became aware of something on his chest. Something just heavy enough to make his already aching ribs creak. Something with claws, that dug into the soft layer of his underarmor.

It was all starting to come back to him. He reached down instinctively to grab the child, which is who he assumed was the one sitting on his chest, making strange noises. The mental fog was starting to clear. He remembered the chase, trying to escape yet another bounty hunter from the Guild. He finally decided to turn his attention to his charge. He didn’t know who was more surprised; the bright red bird with a hooked beak sitting on his chest, oddly comforted by his touch ... or himself. 

For a brief moment, the two creatures studied each other. Each waiting for the other to react, perhaps. The bird was first, squeaking and spreading it wings. It began to smack Mando in the helmet as he raised his arms in self-defense. The bird took flight, disturbing the flowered vines as it soared into the baby blue sky. 

Mando scrambled to his feet, only to immediately collapse in agony. He managed to roll to his side, only to pause. He had finally spotted the ruined remains of his ship. The _Razor Crest_ was an absolute wreck. Most of the damage appeared to have occurred during entry into the plant's atmosphere. He finally remembered what had landed him here, and that had been the warp drive exploding after a lucky shot by that dirty, rotten scoundrel. It was a miracle he'd survived.

He managed to get to his feet on the third try and stay upright long enough to make his way to a nearby tree. He didn't know where the child was, and that was his absolute worst nightmare come to life. He began to panic, clinging to the tree for fear he'd collapse again. He found he'd become quite attached to that little womp rat. He didn't want to think the worst, and yet parts of the ship were scattered all over the jungle atmosphere as far as he could see.

He began looking around for something, anything. That's when it happened. For a moment, the view from his helmet shifted. For a moment, he was tracking a tiny set of little red footsteps from a nearby bush. In another instant, it was gone. He slapped the side of his helmet, causing his head to ring again. The tracking view returned again, but the edges of the screen were fuzzy and full of static. That didn't matter right now.

There was a clear and distinct path leading away into the jungle. The Mandalorian began to follow said path, always on his guard. He had no idea where they were. He knew he could probably find out on the starmap back on the ship, but there were more important things. Not to mention, he was sure it was just as broken as the rest of the _Razor Crest_. He had no idea how he was going to afford to fix the ship. His first priority was finding the kid, and then work. He’d take anything, if he could just promise the child’s safety. 

The Mandalorian finally stepped out of the jungle onto a road. At least he assumed it was a road. It was narrow and bordered with was more of the lush jungle. The child’s footsteps indicated that he’d continued waddling this way. It was only a short way down the road that Mando found something that might indicate either a help or a hindrance. Another set of tracks had joined the child’s, and were a bit bigger. The two began walking side by side. Mando wasn’t sure how to react, but continued to follow the tracks carefully. He almost didn’t notice the house until he walked right into the stairs. 

That was where the tracks stopped. The bigger creature appeared to have picked up the baby, and taken him up the white wooden stairs. Mando took in the house slowly, trying to come up with a plan. He had no idea whether or not this was a trap. He drew his blaster and began to check the perimeter of the blue house raised on stilts. This planet’s ocean rolled onto nearby rocks, and Mando could only hope the sound might disguise his movements. There was faint music playing loudly from somewhere in the house. Unlike anything he’d ever heard before. He could hear footsteps overhead, as he passed under the house.

He needed to get inside, and a tentative solution presented itself at the back of the house. The house was built on a sharply sloping mountain face, cut into the cliff face. Thus, it was an easy climb up to the backside of the wraparound porch. The sound of raised voices grew increasingly louder from inside the house, as if an argument had broken out. Mando was grateful to find the old white painted wooden door unlocked, though he kept his blaster at the ready. With his shoulder at the door, and his blaster raised, the Mandalorian made entry into the house.

He wasn’t sure what to make of the scene around him. There was something anticlimactic about his presence in this little room, with tile floors, strange shaking machines, and piles of clothes scattered about. None of this made any sense. Cautiously curious, Mando crossed the room in a few steps, trying his best to stay quiet. He stepped into a hallway, and tried to decide his next course of action. The child had to be here, but he didn’t know where. He still wasn’t sure this wasn’t some kind of elaborate trap. He didn’t hesitate long in the short hallway. He couldn’t. There was someone upstairs, and that’s where he pinpointed the music coming from. There was also someone in the room across the hallway from where he stood in the doorway of the room where he’d gained entry. 

Running out of options, the Mandalorian headed towards the center of house, ducking into the front room. That turned out to be a mistake. A miscalculated error. There was someone already in that room. A human woman, with long brown hair, who was standing in the still open front door. They both stared at each other for a moment, each waiting for the other to make a movie. 

Nani was the first to speak, “Who the fuck are you?!” she demanded, before turning her head to dig for something in her bag. 

Mando was reaching for his blaster while simultaneously trying to explain himself, “There must be some kind of misunderstanding. I’m just here looking for my child. I lost track of him, and followed him here. I-,” 

He was interrupted by the sound of running feet, and the sudden appearance of two new characters. The first of which came out of the other room, the one he’d been trying to avoid. It was a slim green alien, shaped something like a squid, with greenish-yellow skin, a single antenna protruding from the top of its head like a beacon. The creature was dressed in some kind of strange ancient military uniform, but nothing he recognized immediately. The creature, whom he would later learned was named Pleakley, didn’t appear to pose much of a threat. Unless it could do things with that sandwich that would put his skills to the test. 

He instead turned his attention to the human who had come running down the stairs. This was a little girl, who reminded him of Winta, with long black hair and a red and white flowered dress. At her side was a little blue alien, with big ears and long claws. He realized this might be the one who’d caught up with the baby. What drew his attention to the strange pair was what the little girl was holding in her arms. Or rather, who she was holding. Still wrapped in that little jacket of his, poking his big brown eyes and large green ears from beneath the curtain that her long hair created. He couldn’t explain the sense of relief that washed over him. He’d have to inspect the child himself, but from the soft coos, the child seemed to be doing quite well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't promise any kind of schedule, because life has a nasty way of intervening. Plus, I don't produce my best work under pressure of a deadline. There will be more. I have plans. Cute plans. I am also open to any and all suggestions.


	3. Kindness or Deceit?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We make introductions, and all Mando wants to do is grab the child and vamoose. Life as a funny way of intervening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so sorry for the delay. I've been sick. I had work. I got depressed for no good reason. Anyway, here's the long overdue update. Please enjoy.

He turned to explain himself, only to be met with a cloud of what he assumed was supposed to some kind of harmful toxins. All it did was fog up his visor, and start to irritate him,

“Look, there seems to be some kind of a misunderstanding-” the Mandalorian said as he tried to explain himself once again.

“You’re damn right there is!” Nani said. If she was upset that her attack hadn’t worked according to plan, she hid it well.

“This house is under the protection of the United Galactic Federation!” Pleakely piped up, waving the sandwich around like he actually intended to try to use it as a weapon. The Mandalorian didn't recognize the United Galaxy whatever but he had much more important issues at hand.

"I don't mean you harm," He said in a tense voice. All he wanted was to take back the kid and retreat. "I'm just here for him. That's my kid. I lost him. I'm grateful to you for taking care of him but I'm here now. Just give him to me and I'll be on my way."

"Who are you?" Lilo asked, drawing away as if to protect the child.

"My name is Din Djarin. I'm a Mandalorian. I crash landed on your planet," Mando explained, softening his voice as he addressed the little girl. He had a soft spot for kids. Which explained the womp rat. “If you’ll just-”

“My name is Lilo, and this is Stitch,” She casually interrupted him, as she introduced herself and the blue alien.

“Hai,” Stitch said, grinning at him with a large mouthful of sharp teeth. He kind of reminded the Mandalorian of a loth-cat, like they’d met on Sorgan.

“That’s my sister Nani, and that’s Pleakely,” Lilo continued. “I don’t know what this little guy’s name is, but he’s awfully cute. And good.”

“He doesn’t have a name,” Mando said, in an exhausted tone. His entire body was aching. He just wanted to collect the kid and get back to the ship. He’d come up with a plan later. He didn’t know why these people were being so friendly, and while he appreciated it, he couldn’t afford to get them involved. With a sigh that turned into a groan, Din bent down to grab the kid, who was cooing softly. He didn’t remember anything after that.

~ ~ ~

For a moment, the Mandalorian thought that it had all been a dream. An odd dream, with crashed ships, and strange blue loth-cats. This was all before he opened his eyes. He was aware that he was lying on something soft but stiff, like his cot. He was draped in a blanket, something thin and itchy. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what was wrong with this picture. He felt something on his chest, and for a minute he recalled a bright red bird with a hooked beak as being a creature in his fantastical dream. Blind fingers reached for the slumbering child, softly snoring on his chest, just like had become a habit he’d meant to put a stop to. All was well, and yet something felt off.

All it took was Din opening his eyes, to realize what the problem was. He wasn’t,as he had thought, back in the _Razor Crest_. He was lying on the couch of the people, who had shown him far more kindness than was fair. The child was still fast asleep on his chest, but that wouldn’t be for long. He lifted the blanket for inspection, and was somewhat surprised to find that they were draped with his well-worn cape. He really needed to replace the holey thing, but that was once again an afterthought when he spotted something sitting on the low table set in front of the couch. He sat up with a start, only catching the startled child on pure instinct. With his free hand, he reached up to touch his grizzled cheeks, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing with his own eyes. It was his helmet that was sitting on the table, and not on his head like it was supposed to. Someone had taken it off, because he knew he never would have. Someone had seen his face. They weren’t supposed to. This was in direct violation of the creed he had sworn, all those years ago.

A confused whine, and a sad chirp forced him to turn his attention to his charge. The child had seen him without his helmet, but he was the only one. And that was because he had let him. The _ad’ika_ was his _aliit_ , and they were a clan of two. These strangers were not, as of yet, in his family.

He was so distracted, he didn’t hear the man approach until he spoke, “Oh good you’re awake,”

Mando turned with a start. He dropped the child into his lap, reacting on that instinct again. He reached for his helmet, and the blaster that was always strapped to his side. He managed to jam his helmet on his head, but he came up short when it came to grabbing his weapon. In fact, upon closer inspection, they had stripped him of not only his weapons, but his armor as well. He was beginning to rethink these strangers kindness, when the man in the doorway spoke again, “Yeah, sorry about that. Jamba said he needed to inspect your gear. But you don’t need any of that stuff here, I promise. We come in peace.”

David laughed awkwardly at his own joke, as the strange man in his girlfriend’s living room turned to stare at him again. His face may have been covered, but David got the idea that he was glaring daggers at him.

“Who are you, and where am I?” Mando demanded, deciding to lift the child again. He didn’t know what else to do.

“Hi, I’m David. Nani’s boyfriend. You’re in her living room. In Kauai, Hawaii. On Planet Earth,” David continued, haltingly, as the silence stretched. He didn’t know much, just that Nani had met him outside to forewarn him of what was waiting on the living room couch. The guy had apparently crash landed down the driveway, and come barging in from the laundry room, for the little green alien sitting in his arms.

“What star system is this?” The Mandalorian asked, unfamiliar with the planet. He had yet to get back to his ship, to study his star chart. Though that was slipping further down the list of things he needed to know. Which now included, right at the top, find out who this Jamba person was, and get his things back. It wasn’t theirs to steal as they saw fit, and he’d make that quite clear. They’d find he wasn’t entirely helpless without his weapons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so maybe I should have forced myself on a schedule. I don't have anything official yet, but I will. Most likely going to have a new chapter out before the end of the week.


	4. Dangers of Job Hunting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nani lays down the law and Din begins to wonder if life was better as a bounty hunting outlaw. Amendments are made to the Creed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm back fresh with a new one, and a long one at that. Pleas enjoy

It had been a strange few days in the Pelekai household, and that was saying things. It had all started when Stitch had brought home the green baby with the big ears, and the penchant for frogs and bugs. Nani knew nothing of this. Lilo had been home to take the as-of-yet unnamed child upstairs to watch. All she knew was that she’d come home to find a strange man in silver armor, which he had called Beskar, like a knight. He’d said his name was Din, and he was a Mandalorian, whatever that was. Pleakely hadn’t recognized him. He had come to collect the aforementioned child, at least until he’d passed out on her living room floor.

Of course she’d taken off his helmet. How was she supposed to know any better? A man was passed out on her floor, and the child he’d come to collect, his child, was quite upset at the change in plans. He’d cried and wiggled, until Lilo had to either put him down or drop him. Nani didn’t know what was wrong with the Mandalorian passed out on her floor, so she did what anyone else would do. He kept saying something about being in an accident. So she rolled him over, sent Pleakely to get Jamba, and taken off his helmet. 

All things considered, the guy was pretty handsome. His black hair was a mess, what with having been trapped under that helmet. He had a well groomed mustache and a distinct five o'clock shadow. He had a few scars across his face, and a nose that had clearly been broken a few too many times. Whatever a Mandalorian was, this guy had lived a rough life. Nani couldn't claim to have any real medical knowledge beyond the basics. She'd once briefly considered a degree in nursing, before everything changed. 

So unless she took this guy to a hospital, she couldn't tell what was wrong with him. Not that it mattered, because the baby had everything all figured out. Whimpering and crying, the pitiful little thing crawled up on his father's chest. He laid a tiny, clawed three fingered hand on his grizzled cheek, and used the other to balance himself on his chest. Nani wasn't quite sure what he did, but the slumbering man gave a sigh of relief and appeared to relax. The child had then decided to take a nap. 

Jamba had been the one to put him on the couch. It had been his idea to take his armor and his weapons. He'd said something about needing to inspect it and keep it for safekeeping. Nani didn't have the heart to tell the upset Mandalorian that he might never see his weapons again. He was already angry enough that they'd taken off his helmet. Apparently it was forbidden in his culture. Something about violating a Creed, and then he'd gone off mumbling in a language no one else knew. 

Apparently he’d confronted Pleakley, and it hadn’t take much to make Pleakley cave. Pleakley had than shown him up to Jumba's lab. Which, inadvertently, wasn’t far from where his ship had crashed. Nani had missed all of this as well, but that's neither here nor there. The Mandalorian spent much of his days sequestered in the laundry room, which he had commandeered. He was apparently repairing his gear, which had been damaged in the crash. He also was very adamant about his privacy, for their unwilling guest. He would get quite upset if anyone barged in unannounced, as most of his work was focused on repairing his helmet. Nani could respect that, but too often Lilo and Stitch were more focused on separating the child from his father, and would just barge in without a care in the world. 

Nani had a good reason to be standing in the hallway, outside of the laundry room. She could hear the trio upstairs playing in Lilo’s room. She hesitated for a moment, before knocking on the door, “I’m coming in.”

Din had spread his things all over a table that had once been designated for ironing. That was something her Mom had been more worried about. He had settled his helmet on his head by the time she opened the door. Instead of coming into the room, she chose to lean in the doorway. She needed to have a talk with him. 

“Is something the matter?” The Mandalorian asked, sensing something was in the air. She hoped he handled this better than Pleakley and Jumba had, when she’d suggested it. Jumba had been personally insulted, which had just made Pleakley more of a nervous wreck. She still questioned her sanity, at hedging such a discussion with the two aliens. They’d never blend in, no matter how hard they tried. But Mando was different. She’d seen what he had under the hood he insisted on wearing. 

“Look, we all have our issues, but if you’re going to bunk with us, we need to lay some ground rules,” Nani said, before deciding she needed to sit down. She stepped into the room, realizing she was buying time. For what, she didn’t know exactly. She found a laundry basket, emptied of its contents, and flipped it over. She dragged it closer to where the Mandalorian was turning in his chair, before finally squatting on the plastic bin. “I’d never turn away a kid. I know you won’t leave that kid alone, and I’m not asking you to. What I’m asking is that you help out a little.” 

“Is there something you need?” Din asked, curiously, as he studied his young host. 

“No, but there’s something you need,” Nani said, before pausing to rephrase that. “I need you to get a job, so you can help out a bit, okay? Nothing serious. I can even recommend a couple places to check out. Have you ever waited tables?”  
~ ~ ~  
Which was how the Mandalorian found himself in the sleepy little village. It wasn’t that he’d meant to be a layabout. He’d been focused on more important issues, though he supposed he was imposing on his gracious hosts. David had given him a ride into town, as he was going to take Lilo to some kind of dance lessons. He had been somewhat grateful to leave the chatty car. The girl was quite sweet, but she was also a handful. A part of him wondered if the child would be like, when he finally chose to talk. If he ever learned to talk, that was. He knew nothing about the child's species, no one did. It sometimes blew his mind that this literal infant was older than he was. 

He had more pressing issues at hand. For one, he stuck out like a sore, metal thumb. Something he’d heard Nani refer to him as, more than once. He was used to it. His people were few and far between, choosing to stick to the shadows, after the purge. Things were different here. It was proving increasingly difficult to find anyone willing to offer him a job. There was no shady little cantina, with back alley bounties waiting to offer him employment, like there had been on Tatooine. There simply weren’t bounties to be had, anywhere on this planet. He should know, he’d already asked. 

Not a single one of Nani’s suggestions had panned out. As it turned out, there wasn’t a high demand for lifeguards in Beskar armor. Though there had been some misunderstanding in that department. Lifeguarding didn’t entail what he thought it was. In fact, from his perspective, if seemed to be quite the opposite. In his personal opinion, what good could be dealt from their high perches? Than there was the matter of his previous employment, the only employment he’d ever had. It seemed not a single one of his skills was transferable to life on this tiny island. 

Most of the people he’d attempted to approach, had wanted nothing to do with him. This was turning out to be a waste of a day. He was growing weary and frustrated, as he approached a little open air market. This was the last on the list of Nani’s suggestion. It didn’t take long to find the tiny old woman who ran the market. She was standing at the end of a row, watering the strange spiky fruit that was apparently native to the area. She seemed utterly oblivious to his approach, even when he stood right behind her. 

“Excuse me,” Din said, standing at attention and trying to hail her. She either didn’t hear him, or didn’t care to acknowledge. So he excused himself again, this time at a higher volume. When that didn’t work, he turned to other measures. He stepped forward, reaching out to touch her shoulder, as he half-shouted, “Excuse me!”

He supposed he should have seen it coming, what happened next. She turned with a start. She was still holding the hose. Neither had time to react, before the Mandalorian was drenched. That’s right about when she began to shriek. With slumped shoulders, soaked spirits, and an overwhelming sense of defeat, Din began the long walk home. 

He found Nani in the kitchen, cooking dinner. If she was surprised to see him home, so early she hid it well. She instead, laughed at his misery as he stood in the doorway, dripping a mess on the hardwood floors. She cut herself off mid laugh when she realized this.

“Oh you’re soaked! Don’t just stand there!” She said, slamming down the mug she’d been sipping from. She rushed him into the bathroom, taking him by surprise. He wasn’t one so easily knocked off balance, and yet here he was, stumbling into the bathroom. “Just strip out of those. I think David has an outfit you can borrow. Unless you’ve got something I can grab for you?”

Din had to admit that he did not, in fact, have an outfit to spare. These are all the clothes he has in his possession. He takes a moment to stare at himself in the mirror. Things have not been going well since they made the mistake of leaving the peaceful tranquility of the countryside, to enter town. It was supposed to be a supply run. Instead, he’d barely made it back to his now ruined ship. Now he was standing in a stranger’s bathroom, soaking wet, and miserable. How he had lost control of his life this much? 

He was distracted from his own thoughts, with a sharp rap on the still partially open bathroom door. Nani was reaching a blind hand through the gap between the door jamb and the door. In it, was a change of clothes. Which Din took with some awkward hesitation. 

“I hope those fit. I kind of guessed on your sizes. Look, if you need anything, just give a shout. I need to get back before ...” Nani said, before she was interrupted. 

“Okay who's in here cooking magma?!” Pleakley’s concerned voice came from the kitchen. 

“No!” Nani cried, and took off running, leaving Din still standing, dripping, in the bathroom. 

“Thank you,” Din said quietly, before carefully closing the door to the bathroom. He had a decision to make. He had nothing else to wear, and something told him this borrowed outfit wouldn’t fit under his armor as well as his custom suit. Things were different here. The sooner he accepted that, the better things would be. He turned to stare at himself in the mirror again. All those years ago, he had sworn a creed. That creed, among other things, expressly forbids the removal of his helmet. Unless in the presence of his family, or upon his exit from the Mandalorian. 

Maybe sometimes there were meant to be exceptions to certain guidelines. Never mind that they were the backbone of his entire life, up until a recent point. With a heavy sigh, the Mandalorian reached up to remove his helmet. He rested the heavy beskar on the sink, as he studied himself in the mirror. It had been an incessantly long time since he’d really looked at himself, and the decisions he’d made. He had a mirror on the ship, but he only ever used it shave. Not that he needed it for that anymore. 

He decided to turn away from the vanity of his looks, and address the whole reason for these shenanigans. He stripped out of his armor, carefully stacking it so he could transport it to the laundry room when he was ready. He slipped out of his under armor, deciding to hang it over the shower rack until he had a moment to figure out how the washing machine worked. This left him in his boxer shorts. He wasn’t about to ask Nani if he could borrow that. Instead, he turned his attention to the clothes he was borrowing from David, which consisted of a pair of capris and a sun-faded t-shirt from something called the ‘Hawaiian Island Regional 1996’. 

Din took one last moment to look at himself in the mirror. He tried to put out of his head, the idea of what the Armorer or Paz Vizla would say if they could see him now. Paz would probably laugh himself blind, which was why he must never know. He was running a hand through his hair when he realized he was just wasting time. He opened the bathroom door and stepped out into the hallway. Only to find Nani waiting with another mug, “You look like you need that. Come outside with me, and tell me what happened today. Then I’m going to introduce the two of you to pizza. The kid can eat pizza right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please forgive me, for I have sinned. Yeahhhh, there's gonna be some major life changes taking place here. I'm not done. Prepare yourselves, for the next one involves domestic hilarity. Surely Din can babysit two children, and their alien friend. Without burning the house down. Much.


	5. What's the Worst That Can Happen?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Din is left in charge of the trio, and too often relies on the principals of Murpheys Law. He holds onto his sanity by pure force of will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome back. This took a lot longer than I thought. Not to mention I hit a huge wall, trying to come up with ways to make Din miserable. I am so sorry. It had to be done. Please enjoy. This is a long one.

Nani hadn’t meant to leave Din alone with the others, at least maybe not in the near future. Unfortunately life had a funny way of interrupting even the best laid plans. It all happened so fast. David got a sponsorship, which came as a welcome surprise. A few days after they celebrated his first sponsorship since graduation, they got another call. There was a surfing competition on the big island, and due to an unforeseen accident involving a four wheeler and some stupid hijinks, they were down a surfer in David’s age group. He had been an alternate for a couple of years now, focused more on helping Nani than any kind of professional career. Hindsight being 20/20, maybe Nani didn’t need to go as urgently as she thought. 

Of course, she was excited. They all were. Not that Din really seemed to understand, but he was supportive. She knew she was entrusting him with a lot, considering she’d only met the guy a couple of weeks ago. But it’s not like had a whole lot of options. She wasn’t putting Jumba in charge, because that’s exactly what he wanted, and he’d probably blow up the house, again, in her absence. She wasn’t putting Pleakely in charge, for many reasons. The main one being that he’d just do whatever Jumba told him to. Din was the most likely candidate, because he was the only applicable one. Plus, what was the worst that could happen? 

As it turns out, the answer to that question comes in many forms. The first of which started almost before the couple had left the driveway. Din had to admit he’d been uncharacteristically distracted when David tried to explain to him how to use the washing machine. The children had been running around, getting underfoot, when they weren’t trying to sneak away pieces of his armor to play with. He’d figured how to load and start the thing, he wasn’t a complete idiot. Once again, he had to remind himself that his lifelong skills were almost all completely ineligible. It wasn’t that he couldn’t function, he was just on unfamiliar ground. And yet, something didn’t feel right when he finally went to switch the load of mixed laundry. 

He didn’t know what he’d done wrong, at the time, but he knew he’d messed up. In this load had been his under armor, his cape, and the child’s robe, among other things. Nani had gone out and found a few outfits for the child. There was a red footie pajama set that kid loved now. Almost as much as the strangely big-headed doll that Lilo had entrusted to his care. Din just continued to stare at the contents of the washing machine, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Everything, everything was ruined. He took another moment to study the bottle he’d used to fill said machine. It had come from the same shelf David had indicated, but Din had been distracted trying to wrestle his helmet away from Stitch, who had been trying to jam it on the child’s head. There were two large bottles on the shelf, and it was becoming clear that he had chosen wrong when he chose the one labeled “bleach.” With a heavy sigh, Din began to load the dryer, pausing to study each article he’d ruined. There was still so much he had to learn about how things worked on this planet. The job hunt had not gotten any easier, even without the beskar. He had no marketable skills here, though he was willing to learn, to adapt.

~ ~ ~

He thought back to the talk he’d had with Nani, that first day after she’d reminded him he needed to go out and seek employment. She’d shown him up the hill to a private little spot a little ways away from the chaos of the house. He’d liked it up there. There was something called a hammock strung up between two palm trees. She’d shown him how to climb up in the strange contraption, which had been less than graceful. They’d sipped something called hot cocoa, while they talked. 

She’d apologized for throwing him to the wolves like that, as she put it. She listened as he explained how things worked back home. This had taken longer than he thought, as he’d had to go back and explain the Empire’s Rise, Reign, and Fall. Or what everyone had thought was their downfall. There was something else afoot, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. If the Empire were indeed no longer a thing, than why were there still so many Ex-Imperials lingering around the galaxy, acting as local warlords and such? That was a question for another time. Of course, she had questions. Which led to questions of his own. He wanted to know more about the United Galactic Federation that Pleakely referred to at almost any chance he got. Nani had scoffed at that, before telling him that he’d need to ask them about that. 

They sat in silence for a while after that. Din enjoyed the brief reprieve from the chaos that was the extended Pelekai household. All he could hear was the sound of the ocean, the local wildlife, and if he strained his ears, the sounds of the ever-present music Lilo had playing. It was by someone called Elvis Presley. He had apparently been a big deal, a very long time ago. He realized, when he though about it, that he didn’t know of anyone of such importance back home. Of course, he never settled on one planet for long. Even before the large bounties on he and the kids’ heads. He had no reason to linger anywhere for any longer than the job took him. 

He knew of famous people from around the galaxy, his home galaxy. Bounty hunters, a Rebel General, a few former Jedi, and a couple of higher ups in the Empire, but no musicians. He’d heard a few performers at various cantinas, while waiting on jobs, but nothing came to mind. He found himself telling Nani this, which led to her asking where Home was. Home, he supposed, was the  _ Razor Crest _ or wherever the covert was holed up. She asked after the covert, and he explained, in brief, about the Mandalorian. She remembered his complaining about the removal of his helmet. They talked about the Creed, and all that had entailed. He explained that there were exceptions, that he could remove the helmet in the presence of his family. The child had been his family, long before the Armorer had decreed it so. He tried to explain his thought process behind this newfound idea, but ended up explaining how the idea of what family meant among the Mandalorian. 

“We have a saying,” Din explained, as he finished off his hot cocoa, “ _ Aliit ori’shya tal’din _ , which translates to ‘Family is more than blood’. We value foundlings, like the kid. He’s a foundling. He’s just as much as my child, as I am his father.”

“We have something like that,” Nani said, as she sat up, “Our family motto is ‘Ohana means family. Family means nobody left behind or forgotten.” 

~ ~ ~

Din tried to cook lunch, off of a recipe Nani had left for him. It was something called macaroni and cheese, and Lilo swore by it. That and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, whatever those were. Though, apparently, those were just for a fish named Pudge, who controlled the weather. He didn’t press for more information. He didn’t see what could go wrong. The instructions were so simple that he probably could have left them with the children, and kicked back on the hammock. But he didn’t. 

He knew how to cook. There was a small kitchen on the  _ Razor Crest _ . Though he’d never had to cook for more than an audience of one. The child preferred his food to still be alive and hopping. Though he’d eat just about anything put in front of him, like the krill or bone broth on Sorgan. He’d enjoyed the pizza, which was practically a staple of their diets here. 

The children were in the living room, decorating spoons and dunking them in a jar of pickle juice. What was the worst that could happen? He could see them from the doorway, though, again, what was the worst that could happen? It turns out, if you ask yourself that question one too many times, Murphy's Law automatically applies itself. As he was about to find out. 

All was going well, until the green phone in the kitchen began to ring. This wasn’t Din’s first involvement with the phone. It was somewhere between a comm link and a holoprojector. People could communicate with each other, from further distances than you could with a comm link. Din had yet to use the thing, but it wasn’t a foreign concept to him. With an eye on the pot that refused to boil, Din crossed the kitchen and picked up the phone. What could be so hard about this? 

“This is Din Djarin, who are you trying to hail?” He asked, trying his best, as the trio looked over from inside the living room. 

“Oh, Din, is this your first phone call? It’s Nani! Is Lilo nearby?” Nani said excitedly, 

“She’s in the other room. Do you need her for something?” Din asked, as Lilo perked up. He was almost relieved that Nani had asked for Lilo. Not only was he uncomfortably out of his element, but his water had started to boil. 

“Oh no. I was just checking. How’s everything going?” Nani asked, trying to hold back a giggle.

“It’s fine. I really need to get back to the-,” Din said, trying not to be rude, before he was interrupted. 

“Oh this can’t wait. Tell Lilo, David got sixth place!” Nani squealed, jumping with barely contained excitement. “I gotta go. There’s a trophy ceremony across town we need to get to. Give everybody my love!”

Just like that, she was gone. Din was standing by the doorway, holding a dead phone, and trying to process what had just happened. He placed the phone back on the hook and looked down to see three small children around his feet. 

“What’d Nani say?!” Lilo asked, holding his son up to him. Din took him gratefully, and tried to edge around the other two. He really needed to get back to his original task. The child gurgled and buried himself against his neck. 

“David got sixth place.” Din asked, bracing himself for the disappointment that was sure to follow. He didn’t claim to understand anything about this surfing thing, but he’d seen a few races and competitions in his days. What happened instead just made him even more confused. 

“We have to bake a cake!” Lilo shrieked, causing Din to flinch and he instinctively reached up with his free hand to cup the child’s much larger ears. 

The next thing Din knew, the quiet kitchen was abuzz with excitement. He tried to stick to his little corner, and tend to making a meal they could all enjoy. Lilo and Stitch raided the kitchen for the things they needed, dropping them onto the table as they spun through the kitchen like two tornadoes. He felt the child was much safer, perched on his hip, gumming on the cardboard box the noodles had come in.

Eventually, the child decided that he too wanted in on the action. Which resulted in his whining and wiggling, until Din finally relented. Which he only did when the other two had calmed down some. Though he wasn’t sure utterly covered the table and floor in powered liquid mess that  _ he’d  _ end up cleaning, was his definition of calm. He wasn’t going to say anything. It kept them busy and out of trouble. 

Until they asked for help. The recipe for the cake, required the cutting up of butter. Which require the use of a knife, which they were forbidden to use. He was all too happy to help. Even remembering to grab a little bottle sitting in the middle of the disaster of table, like an innocent victim. The recipe had called for a pinch of salt in the water, which he’d forgotten to add. He remembered Pleakely pointing it out one morning, while trying to label items of the kitchen for him like he was some kind of an idiot. At least, that’s what he thought he grabbed. It was an innocent enough mistake, completely unnoticed until they were ready to eat. 

But first, they had to survive the cake baking experience. Din felt it best to leave the kids to themselves for that, confident that they knew what they were doing. Until he had a chance to look inside the bowl that they’d been mixing the ingredients in. Making a face of disgust, he carefully fished out one of several egg shells, and for some reason a band-aid. He didn’t know where it had come from, and he didn’t think to ask. He just made a mental note to take just small enough a piece as to not insult the chefs, and give Nani and David a heads up. They left him to figure out the oven, taking their bowls of macaroni and running for the couch. 

He hadn’t even gotten to sit down and enjoy his own bowl, before the critics had begun to complain. Stitch decided to throw his bowl at the far well, and the child would have copied him, if Din hadn’t intervened. Lilo tried to break it him softer, but it took his own taste test to determine that there was indeed something wrong with the macaroni and cheese. When he had meant to salt the basic dish, he had managed to add sugar to a concoction that didn’t require such an additive. In fact, it had the opposite desired effect. 

Din found himself back in the bathroom, as he had on the day he’d finally decided to amend the creed in his favor. Staring at his reflection, as chaos reigned outside the partially closed door. He was pretty sure the kids were ordering pizza, but he was beyond caring. All he could do, before he faced the disaster that was the kitchen, was focus on himself. Which was exactly what he planned to do. He went to fetch his knife from where it was hidden in his leg guards. He was lucky Jumba hadn’t found it to confiscate, but it was a miracle the kids had yet to find it. He shaved for the first time in days, taking time to clean up his mustache just right. That was the one thing he’d never change. 

Lilo came to find him as soon as the pizza arrived, which worked out perfectly for two reasons. The first being that he had only just returned his knife to its hiding place, abating any kind of curiosity. The second being that Pleakely dropped by, only long enough to tell him that the annoying beeping he’d been hearing was the timer for the oven. So he managed to save the cake without burning the house down. Things were looking up. Until he tried to find a place to sit, the last person to get anything to eat as usual. The children had claimed domain of the couch, and refused to give him room. Even his  _ ad’ika _ was in on the game, giggling as he tried to swallow his pizza whole. The little womp rat.

Having no choice, the former infamous bounty hunter of a galaxy far,far away was forced to settle his haunches on the floor. He let Lilo decide what to display on the television, as he had no opinion on the matter. Things had finally calmed down. Din was willing to write today off as a success. No one had died, let alone been seriously injured. That was a great day in his books. The little things he could deal with later. Until Lilo extended an offer he thought nothing of at the time. It was another one of those little things. She offered to help him cut his hair, as he tried for the umpteenth time to uncurl several small and delicate fingers out of his hair. Apparently both the child and Stitch thought he was someone to be messed with, just because he’d resigned himself to a seat on the floor. If he seemed hesitant at the strange offer, she offered up the fact that she’d helped Nani cut her hair in the past. So, much to his chagrin, Din agreed to her terms. What was the worst that could happen?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise, the fun begins in the next chapter. Well, after a minor setback. Din continues to learn how the world works, and I get to stare at pictures of Pedro Pascal for reference.


	6. Too Much Fun In The Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's wrong with a day at the beach?

Nani and David returned home shortly after sunrise. Much to their surprise, a beskar clad warrior was waiting for them on the front steps. After two uninterrupted weeks without the constant armor, it was an odd sight. Din had nothing to say as they stepped out of the car, and began unpacking. He finally spoke as the pair began to climb the stairs, but all he had to ask was how the trip had been. 

“Is everything okay? Did something happen?” Nani asked, with a nervous laugh as the Mandalorian stood up to let them pass. Din pondered her question for her moment. Several things had happened, but what could he get away with leaving out? 

The trio ended up in the kitchen, where the disgraced Mandalorian finally took off his helmet. If only to nurse a cup of coffee, and stare contemplatively at the cake sitting between them. No one spoke for a while, slowly waking up to the caffeinated bean water. The children were still passed out in various states across the living room. Stitch was sleeping on the table, an upturned popcorn bowl sitting on his back like a turtle, as some sort of blanket. Lilo was half off the couch, snoring softly. The child was wrapped up in a nest of various blankets, and the cape off his father's back, nestled in between the tv stand and the bookshelf. 

Din wouldn’t elaborate on what had happened the night before, because in retrospect it was too silly. He wouldn’t have them regarding him as someone so easily spooked, and merely hoped the children wouldn’t bring it up when they woke up. Though, in a heavily edited version of events, he did give them an insight into the chaos of the day before. David and Nani were kind and forgiving. They even took care to tiptoe around the elephant in the room, which was the end result of his decision to let a six year old cut his hair. 

Stitch was the first to wake up, with a wild start that ended in the popcorn bowl flying across the room, and Din catching it on pure instinct before it shattered. The other two weren’t far behind, after that, and the chaos resumed again. Din finally retreated to the hammock and the quiet space it offered. David was the first to find him, carrying two more cups of sloshing coffee, and a small leather bag. He offered to finish what Lilo had started, preserve what he could. He had a much more promising resume, which consisted of working in a family barber shop for several years. Which explained the kit he’d brought out with him. 

By the time the two were ready to rejoin the house, Din was already in much better spirits. To a point. He was still in his full suit of armor when he opened the door, and barely dodged a flying vase. The child was in full tantrum mode, apparently because Stitch had grabbed the last piece of cold pizza. This wasn’t the Pelekai’s first experience with the child’s powers. Lilo had fallen off a stolen bicycle a few days after they’d crash landed in their lives, with her two best friends in tow. Of course the child’s natural instinct had been to heal her, as it had been to try and heal him, after the bounty hunters had attacked, hours after the two of them had met. 

It had been Nani’s idea that saved everyone’s collective sanity. She suggested a day on the beach. Which coincided perfectly, because apparently it was Thursday, and apparently this was the day Lilo fed Pudge-the-fish a Peanut, Butter & Jelly sandwich. Din had to admit that he was curious to see what exactly that entailed, and perhaps gain some insight has to how feeding the fish god would play into the weekly weather. 

Din had vague memories from his childhood, a time long ago when his parents had taken him to his home plants version of a beach. At least he thought it was a beach. His memory was fleeting. He was just a boy when he’d lost his family. It occurred to him, as they settled on a quiet little beach, on the other side of the island, that the child had never been to the beach. It wasn’t like they’d really had much time to enjoy a vacation before now, what with always being on the run. He’d taken him swimming before, at a little watering hole on some small planet far from anything, but this was different. 

Someone had gotten him a little suit, made just for swimming. It was printed with pictures of a boat and a large, bulbous fish called a ‘whale’. It also came with a bucket hat, which when balanced between those giant ears, looked absolutely adorable. The child was very excited from the moment he spotted the waves as they crossed the wooden boardwalk. The minute he was gingerly set down on the sand, he was off like a shot. Lilo and Stitch were already playing in the shallows, having gotten a headstart the minute David put the car in park. After setting up a blanket, various toys, an umbrella, and a few other nicknacks, David and Nani also took off for the water, carrying longboards they called surfboards. 

They had invited Din to join them, but he declined. He had yet to change out of his  _ beskar’gam _ , from last night's encounter. It wasn’t that he was afraid. He had nothing to fear here. Instead, he decided to sit back, relax on the blanket, and watch his newly formed  _ aliitI _ from afar. 

Lilo and Stitch only brought the child back up the beach, because they wanted to join Nani and David out in the surf. They understood that the child was too young, though he whined when they walked away. Din was forced to scramble for a distraction, as the baby began to cry, kicking and struggling to get out of the one armed grip he had. He finally found interest in something another child was doing a few spots away. The child was dumping handfuls of sand into a strangely molded violently yellow bucket. Upon satisfaction, she would upend the contents of the bucket onto the beach in front of her. Out of said sand filled bucket tumbled a castle-shaped mound. 

Luck was in their favor, because among the pile of toys was a similar bucket. It was fairly basic, where as the other kids had a more complicated design. It came with a tiny little shovel, that the kid was more interested in trying to put in his mouth than use it to dig with. After some cajoling, Din finally convinced him to give up his prize. Father and son tried their hand at building a sand castle. It wasn’t much, and one of the turrets was threatening to collapse almost as soon as they’d finished but it was something. Until Stitch decided to appear out of nowhere and climb it, destroying it in the process. With a long and heavy sigh, the Mandalorian decided to take a siesta, stretching out in a little dip. 

He awoke with a coughing fit, and a small pinch of panic. All he was aware of, he felt like something was choking him, his mouth was dry, there was a heavy weight on his chest, and he couldn’t move. He opened his eyes, and all he could see through the newly repaired visor of his helmet was a bright burning light. Now in a full panic, the Mandalorian began to struggle, until he had clawed his way into a sitting position. Sand shed off of him in sheets, as he reached up and pulled off his helmet. He continued coughing, as he reached up to wipe away the sand that had slowly trickled down, trapped between his armor until it slipped into his mouth. There was sand  _ everywhere _ , and three shell-shocked children squatting on the blanket and watching him with some fear. It was then that Din began to fill in the pieces. For some reason or another, the children had decided to play a not-so-fun game where they’d buried him in the sand as he slept. And now there was sand  _ everywhere _ . Every single crack and crevice in his armor, every little tear in his suit, was now filled with sand. 

With another heavy sigh, Din stood up slowly. He was still shedding sand. They’d done a great job of packing it in. He didn’t like sand. It was coarse, rough, and irritating. It had gotten everywhere. Lilo asked if he was okay, and he assured he was, before coughing up some more sand. He bent down to reach into the cooler, fishing out a bottle of water. He remembered an offer Nani and David had made him, as they had been getting away. An offer he had declined, and yet there was a plastic bag with his name written on it, sitting on top of the picnic basket. He picked up the bag with his other hand, and peeked inside. 

Lilo directed him back up the boardwalk, to where they’d parked the car. He’d asked her where would be the best place to change, and was somewhat disappointed to find the ‘bathroom’ she’d promised was little more than an outhouse. It beat changing in the car lot, where another family with boisterous kids was just arriving. He had a feeling someone would take issue. Still, as he changed into the shorts patterned out of the same fabric the kids swimsuit came from, he couldn’t shake a certain feeling of discomfort. He’d never been this exposed in his entire life. He’d seen other men on the beach, dressed similarly, including David, from whom he was borrowing this outfit. That didn’t make it any better. He felt exposed. 

He stowed almost all of his gear in the car, before deciding to put his boots back on. He could seek comfort in the knives hidden along each shin. Even if it was an odd look. He was beyond caring. The Pelekai family was waiting for him, having decided to parcel out lunch. Nani had to hold back any inclination to wolf whistle, as Din came back across the dune. She could see the look on his face from here. He was so uncomfortable, she was starting to feel guilty. Almost. For the time being, she would lean back and enjoy the view. 

The Mandalorian was toned, and slim. But that came from decades of back breaking work and wages stretched thin by donation and desperation. Even David had to admire the view, as Din drew closer. He was never one for vanity, but damn did that haircut look nice. Din dropped to a seat between the two, reaching for a mutely offered sandwich, and the opened water bottle he’d left behind. The couple exchanged looks behind the Mandalorian’s back, which went something like this. 

_ ‘He’s  _ hot,’ David said, with arched eyebrows. 

_ “I know. We’ll talk about this later _ ,” Nani agreed, before clearing her throat and leaning forward to re-offer surfing lessons after lunch. 

For a moment, David hung back. If only to examine the tattoo on the warriors back. It was a curious one, in black ink. It was the skull of some kind of alien creature, with a long face, and sharp curved tusks like an elephant. He decided to ask about it later. 

They managed to spend the entire day at the beach. The kids ran and played until they tuckered themselves out. Din emerged from the water, as the sun burned low in the sky, sopping wet, exhausted and a bit frustrated, to find an adorable dog pile waiting for them on the blanket. He had to admit, as he held the child over one strangely sore shoulder, that maybe, just maybe, this life wasn’t so bad after all. Surely, he could get their hopes up. Maybe they’d found the perfect place. He had to admit, even though he had no idea where they were, which meant surely they couldn’t have been followed. Even if they had, never had they been allowed to settle anywhere this long. Was this what paradise was like? 

~ ~ ~

Din was sure, as he lay in bed the next morning that he had never been in agony quite like this. He’d been shot at more times than he cared to count, cauterized so many wounds that pain should be an old friend. The armor only covered so much. And yet, he felt like his skin was on fire. He sat up slowly, almost sure that his skin would slough off if it snagged on anything. He knew he was being ridiculous, but he couldn’t figure out what was wrong. He sat on the edge of the small cot that he’d brought in from his ship, taking a few minutes to compile himself. The kid was already long gone, whisked away by his friends who had been uncharacteristically quiet this morning. He appreciated that. 

With a pounding headache he was hoping would just go away, Din grabbed a change of clothes and wandered into the bathroom. He was also quite warm. He had to hope he wasn’t getting sick. He couldn’t afford that. He had meant to grab a shower, maybe some breakfast and see what the kids were up to. He thought he could hear them playing outside, so he would have to make quick work of this before they got into trouble. He only caught a glimpse of his reflection, as he kicked the door shut. What he saw was cause for another look. 

“Oh. Shit,” He said, before reaching to turn on the light. As if that would change how red and tender his skin was. Still unable to process what he was seeing, Din reached up to poke his cheek, hissing with the pain. He’d have to ask Nani about that. 

He made quick work of the shower. Only because the minute the comfortingly warm water hit his skin, it felt like someone had decided to pour a vat of boiling oil directly onto his irritated epidermis. In desperation, he yanked the dial over to the cold. It was both an instant relief, and yet an absolute nightmare. He hadn’t finished a shower this fast since he’d heard the curious child manage to wrangle open his weapons locker. 

He made his way into the kitchen, and his morning could only get worse. Jumba and Pleakely had decided to drop in for breakfast. He could see why the kids were playing outside. Din decided to grab some toast, as it was the fastest thing to make. Unfortunately he couldn’t escape without being dragged into conversation.

“Did you get a sunburn?” Pleakely asked, in that grating voice. 

“A what?” Din asked, and regretting speaking instantly. There was now no polite way to escape. 

“A sunburn. He says you have a sunburn. And a pretty ripe one at that. Lilo said you went to the beach yesterday,” Jumba said. Din could sense that the much larger alien was judging him. He didn’t enjoy that very much. 

“You know what I always do?” Pleakely said, and then carried on without being asked. “I take a nice ice bath. The mosquito here, bless their souls, they like me. A lot. Ice cures everything.”

“An ice bath,” Din mused dryly, deciding to take his repressed anger out on the toast. “I’ll- I’ll take that under advisement.” 

~ ~ ~

And under advisement, he actually did take that piece of advice. He gathered all the ice in the house, before sending the kids into town for as many bags as Lilo could carry in her little red wagon. 

The ice bath was such a relief, that as he sank back into it, he was almost certain he’d never leave. David came to check in around lunch. Nani had left a note, about being called into work. If David found humor in his situation, he kept quiet about it. He offered some salad for lunch, and something called aloe vera. It was a blue liquid that Din put on the same life saving list as, say, bacta spray. They went out on the porch for this. They could watch the kids play in the dirt, and David could help reach the hard to reach places. 

This gave David the opportunity to ask about the tattoo across his shoulder blades. It was such an afterthought, that Din had practically forgotten it was there. The memory was now a painful one, tinged with sadness and heartbreak. He took a moment to compose himself, burying his emotions deep behind a sip of the juice the kid had decided he no longer wanted. 

“My, er, friend gave it to me,” He said, trying his best not to flinch. That was one way to undermine decades of an on again, off again relationship with Paz Vizsla. “It was a rite of passage, after we swore ... swore the creed.” 

“Oh,” David said, sensing a strange tension as Din’s shoulder drooped. “What-what is it?” 

“It’s a Mythosaur,” Din said, “My ancestors used to ride around on them.”

“Like how the cavemen totally would have ridden around on dinosaurs. If they’d existed at the same time,” David said haltingly. Somehow it hurts worse now that the Mandalorian could now turn and actually stare at him like he’d gone insane. “I, um, it's a joke. Anyway. You’re all good.” 

“Thank you,” Din said, and stood up, reaching for the shirt he’d draped over the banister. Seeing it upside down, the logo of his friend’s record shop, reminded him of the main reason he’d stopped by. 

“Oh yeah! Hey, I think I might have found you a job,” David said, as Din turned a few steps down. “My buddy, over at the record shop, was telling me that they’re always hiring extra hands up at the resort. There expanding the hotel. No experience is necessary, what my friend heard. I could give you a ride up there, you know?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Please like and comment. Give me your thoughts, I'd love to hear them. All I have to say for the next chapter is, uh, brace yourself. What does that mean? I'll guess you'll have to bookmark to find out.


	7. Side Order of Guilt Please

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How could one night out on the town go so horribly wrong? Tune in to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I'd add the overdue Mando'a Dictionary up here, since I will be writing a long-ass apology in the end notes.   
> Ad'ika [ah-DEE-kah] ~ Little one  
> Aliit [ah-LEET]~ Clan/Family (It's interchangeable  
> Aliit ori'shya tal'din [Ah-LEET-or-EESH-yah-tal-DEEN]~ Family is more than blood  
> [New this chapter]  
> Cyar'ika [[shar-EE-kah]~ Darling  
> kar'taylir darasuum [kat-tay-LEER da-RAH-soom]~ Love.   
> Buir [boo-EER]~ Parent  
> buy'ce gal [BOO_chay-GAL]~ Pint of ale (Or, more literally, the contents of a helmet)  
> Kaissed ~ That I actually invented myself. It's an alien species I came up with myself. I will expand more on it next chapter.  
> Enjoy! Please don't hate me.

Din found that he enjoyed the work for two reasons. The first being that the required welding mask meant that he could seek comfort in knowing his face was covered, once again, most days from start to finish. There really hadn’t been any experience necessary for the job, which worked out perfectly for the Mandalorian. Though, this just appeared to be a cost saving measure, because this job was highly dangerous, what with being hoisted tens of feet in the air, and given a condensed flamethrower with which to meld pieces of unforgiving steel together. 

It was hard work, and it paid well (at least that’s what they promised. He still hadn’t been able to find a conversion rate for Galactic Credits vs the American Dollar). He was gone most days, which caused a bit of a strain on his relationship with the child. The child had grown accustomed to him leaving the ship for jobs, but never this long and this often. Luckily for them all, he could find a multitude of distraction in Lilo and Stitch. 

Still, a piece of his heart was aching this morning. He had to be at work at nine, so he was hitching a ride with a couple of coworkers shortly before sunrise. He had tried to keep quiet, courteous to the slumbering rest of the house. He was standing in the kitchen, waiting for his eggs and toast, as he nursed a cup of coffee, and tried to organize his sleepy thoughts. He turned his attention to the doorway, when he heard little footsteps patterning across the wooden floor. The child, his  _ ad’ika _ , was standing in the doorway, yawning and tugging at his pajamas. 

“ _ Cyar’ika _ , what are you doing up?” He asked, dropping to one knee to pick up his son. The child whined, and snuggled into his neck. Din leaned down to kiss the top of his wrinkly little head, as he stood up. He went back to turn down the stove, as he had more pressing matters. Holding the child close to his chest, he walked him back into their shared room for a moment, before hesitating. The child had begun to nod off again, relaxing to the sound of his heart. He would wake up, in the dark and alone, again. So Din turned and climbed the stairs. 

Feeling apprehensive, he tiptoed up to Lilo’s room. Someone had left her door open, and he suspected Stitch. Who liked to sneak back downstairs for a midnight snack, in his full form. He found them asleep in Lilo’s bed, blankets and pillows kicked everywhere. The little one had finally fallen back asleep, so Din lay him down between his friends. He fixed the blanket over the three of them, and snuck away, pulling the door shut behind him. He thought he was in the clear, making quick work of his breakfast. 

He saw headlights pulling up the drive, and realized his ride had arrived. He ducked back into his room,grabbing two bags. The first being his work gear. The second he stuffed inside the first, but he had plans for after work. He was excited to get paid, for he had a shopping list to commit to. He was almost out the door, before he heard it. It was a pitiful sound, and he felt his heart clench. The child had woken up again, but even among his friends he wasn’t happy. He had begun to wail. With a guilty feeling sinking his gut, Din had no choice but to slip out the door and jog down the stairs. 

~ ~ ~

Din had told Nani and David that he was spending the night on his ship, but he was beginning to rethink those plans. While standing in line to get his paycheck, he ran down the list of things he needed to buy. He’d had two weeks to put together this list, since getting the job. He needed things for himself, because he couldn’t depend on David forever. He needed things for the kid, and for a moment guilt clenched at his heart again. All he could hear was the pitiful wailing, the last thing he’d heard before leaving. He felt he’d have to spoil that kid. The very reason he was re-thinking his evening plans. 

He’d planned to hitch a ride into town, so he could knock out his shopping while there was still light in the sky. If there was time, he’d planned to enjoy the sunset. He liked sunsets. It was just one of  those little things. He’d been invited to join a large portion of the crew at one of the local bars. Which he’d fully planned to partake in. It had been a long time since he’d  _ had _ the time to sit around and share drinks with his fellows. That threatened to surface another painful memory, of days long past. He’d have to take care tonight. He’d planned to have fun, and spend the night seperate from the children so he wouldn’t scare them, but he couldn’t afford to stay away from the child that long. 

He was gratefully distracted upon receiving his check. They’d managed to spell his name, ‘Dyn Jarren’ instead of ‘Din Djarren’. The overworked site manager assured him it was a clerical issue that they’d have resolved the next go around, he’d just have to bring it up with his supervisor come Monday morning. 

Din got his check cashed at a business owned by one of Nani’s friends, who was willing to overlook the fact that not only was his check written out to a different spelling than the name he wrote out, but that he didn’t have any kind of identification. She warned him that he’d need to come up with something, and soon. He assured her that he would, while wondering to himself where exactly he could obtain an identity card that wouldn’t immediately alert the Empire to his location. While he was almost confident that the galaxy was far out of the Empire’s reach, no one could be too careful. There was a store for everything else he needed to purchase, so surely there was somewhere he could buy himself an identity. 

He met with David the same fruit stand where he’d gotten drenched, what felt like a millenia ago. They’d arranged to meet there, so Din could hand off his bags, and ask after the kid. Guilt continued to gnaw at him, as David hesitated. He tried to assure the single father that everything was okay, softening the blow by telling him that the kid had been a little mopey, but had brightened up some with a walk on an easy hiking trail. He’d really perked up, trying to hunt the tree frogs. This was where wires got crossed, mixed messages were received.

“Are you sure your ready for tonight?” David asked, as they loaded the bags into the car. He was under the assumption that Din knew what the children had been planning for the better half of the week. 

“Of course I am,” Din said, looking at his friend curiously. He knew his past was shrouded in mystery, and he liked to keep it that way, but surely David didn’t think this was his first time drinking. A part of wondered if this was David’s way of suggesting he follow his gut, and just go home for the night. 

“I mean if there’s anything you need ... Nani and I are staying in tonight. So just give a holler,” David said, looking at the older man. The two stared at each other, each missing the point. “When are you thinking of coming home?” 

“I don’t know,” Din said honestly, his stomach churning. This was starting to feel less like a fun night out on the town, something he hadn’t been able to enjoy since his youth, and more like some kind of social burden. “I won’t be out late.” 

“You better not be,” David said, choking back a laugh this time. He’d learned that the Mandalorian either didn’t understand or care for his jokes. 

“Tell the kid,  _ kar’taylir daarsum _ ,” Din said slowly, giving David a chance to hear the syllables. “He knows what it means. Tell him his  _ buir _ won’t be long.” 

~ ~ ~

Din was about ready to admit that it had been a  _ long _ time since he’d  _ had _ time to get drunk. Before the kid, he’d been too busy with mindless work. After a while, even the hardest jobs were mind numbing. He didn’t have to rely on the drink to get to sleep, which he had prided himself on. After the kid, there was hardly time to eat, sleep, and shower, let alone have time to himself. 

So to say that he had a lower tolerance than he expected, was saying something. It didn’t help that his coworkers, and other newfound bar friends kept him supplied with a steady stream of alcohol. The drunker he got, the looser his lips, and the more fantastical stories he told of life in outer space. This was all very entertaining to the bar patrons, who had no idea that he was sharing with them his life story. He was having difficulty remembering where he was, when someone leaned in between the group of eager hangers on, and slapped something down onto the bar in front of him. Din paused for a minute to study the handful of credits, oddly out of place on this bar in Hawaii. 

“How much for a  _ buy’ce gal _ ?” A voice rumbled. A voice that shook Din to his core. That he’d recognize, even if it was no longer modulated behind a helmet. 

Din turned faster than he was ready for. For some unknown reason, gravity had suddenly increased. That was the only thing he could come up with. Calloused hands caught him on instinct, before he nose dived off the barstool. He slowly looked up until he came face to face with the one, the only, Paz Vizla. He gasped, reaching up to touch the face of the man he hadn't seen since they were both children. 

Paz carefully caught his hands as he helped him off of the stool. He'd have recognized that tattoo, peeking out from behind a white undershirt, anywhere. He scowled as he scanned the bar, trying to put together the pieces. 

" _ Who did this to you _ ?" He asked in their native language. The Din he knew would never have removed his  _ beskar'gam _ for anything, so surely something must be afoot. 

" _ Nobody _ ," Din answered, his voice slurred. 

" _ Where is your armor than, cyar'ika _ ?" Paz asked, eyeing the stunned crowd as he backed away. He shifted his old friend to his other side, leaving his hand free to grab his blaster if need be. 

"Where's  _ yours _ ?" Din returned, switching back to English. He had a point, but that story was for when he was sober, Paz decided. 

"I asked first," He challenged as they exited to the street. He was glad he'd followed his instinct to explore this cantina. After Din didn't speak he asked again. 

"Home," Din slurred, after a long moment of concentration. 

"Home? Where did you park the  _ Crest? _ " Paz asked, stalling on the edge of civilization. They were heading towards where he'd parked his ship, but if Djarren could just remember where he'd last seen his ship, that's where they'd go. 

"Didn't. I crashed it. In the jungle. By the house," Din explained. 

" _ Where _ ?" Paz asked, frustration and concern mounting. His friend wasn't in a good place right now. His ship it would have to be. 

"Where are we?" Din asked no one in particular, as he looked around. He was lost. This wasn't where his evening had started. He vaguely remembered catching a ride in the back of someone's transport. Paz swallowed a growl and led him back to his ship. 

Well, truth be told, it wasn't  _ his _ ship. The  _ Razor Crest _ had been, before he'd gifted it to Din. Not that that mattered. That would be a problem for the morning. Din complimented him on the expensive luxury cruiser, even managing to crack a dry joke about the Imperial insignia littering the joint. Those might have been fighting words back in the day, but not anymore. This ship had been one of necessity, and the Moff he'd killed for it wouldn't be needing it. He helped Din into bed, thinking nothing of spending another night in the captain's chair.

~ ~ ~

Din's memory of the night before was patchy at best. He remembered splitting a six pack at a luau on the beach at sunset. He remembered making their way to the bar. Things got blurry fast after that. He remembered the wind blowing me in his face as they drove across the island to another dive, or something like that. He'd had the oddest dream though. I mean, it had to be a dream right? There was no way Paz Vizla had shown up. Not all the way out here. 

He slowly opened his eyes, and the confusion only mounted. He wasn't back on his bed at the house. He was on a spaceship, that much was evident. But it wasn't one he'd been on before. He tried to get his bearings, eyes trailing down the bed as he sat up. He found dusty boots propped up on the edge of the large bed attached to long, beefy legs encased in white leather and yellow armor that bled into blue. Black gloves folded on top of a duty belt that put his to shame. By the time he reached the blue chest plate, he knew who it was. Still, he couldn't what he was seeing. It really was Paz Vizla. Perched on a chair and watching him, though his helmet. 

"Sleep well?" Paz asked, and if that really was all he had to say after all this time ...

"How are you alive?" Din asked, managing to swallow a lump in his throat. 

"I could ask you the same thing. I could ask you how you've been. I could ask how you aren't freaking out without your armor on. I could ask what happened," Paz said, cutting himself off. That was the most words they'd exchanged in years and he'd done most of the talking, as usual. "Instead I'm going to ask after the asset." 

Din took a deep, shaky breath, clutching the blanket before smoothing it out. He explained everything that had happened, down to the previous morning when he'd left the child, crying and alone. Oh God. The child. He needed to get back home. 

Paz listened intently, keeping his emotions in check. He even agreed to give Din a ride home. Which required locating a local map and Din vaguely remembering Pleakley (whoever that was) mindlessly chattering about the little alcove they were hidden in. It was the perfect hiding spot, nestled underneath an active volcano. As they flew in, Din finally saw the landing skid he'd made upon entry. Paz landed his ship in said torn up jungle. It was right about then that Din realized the ship they were riding in was a newer Imperial model. He turned to Paz to say something, only to be met with a raised finger inches from his face. 

"Don't start," Paz said in a dangerous tone. Din decided he had bigger fish to fry. He was waiting at the door before Paz had finished his post-flight checklist. 

He was buzzing with energy, but he refused to leave Paz behind. He tactfully took him the long way home, avoiding both his half-repaired ship and the one Pleakely and Jumba called home. He wasn't in the mood to get caught in conversation. 

If Paz had anything to say about the bungalow he now called home, he kept it to himself. Din led him upstairs, trying to find the right way to explain himself. His relationship with Paz was complicated to say the least. He was still searching for the right words that  _ wouldn’t _ piss off the large man behind him, when he entered the kitchen. He found Nani and David sitting at the table, looking expectantly at him as he hovered in the doorway. There was something wrong with this picture, and he was just a little too hungover to immediately solve the puzzle. 

“Morning everyone. This is Paz. Paz, this is Nani and David,” Din said, guestering for Paz to enter the house. He was hanging out on the porch like a stray. He slipped past David, and made his way for the coffee. He was exhausted and hungover. There was something wrong with this picture, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. 

Paz didn’t say a word, as he took Din’s place standing in the doorway like a walking suit of armor. He almost offered Paz a cup, a distinct memory of seeing the other Mandalorian out of armor in all his overnight haze, but bit it back at the last minute. Instead, he turned around, leaning against the counter in yesterday’s outfit, and a five o’clock shadow. It had finally dawned on him, and there was that guilt again. 

“Where’s the kids?” He asked. 

“The kids? We thought they were with you,” Nani said, sitting up a little straighter. She looked over at the silent Mandalorian, before focusing back on Din. 

“What do you mean?” Din asked, face scrunching up in confusion. He knew he’d told them his evening plans, at the start of the week. Albeit, he’d ended up elsewhere but still, at what point would the kids have been with him? 

“Didn’t you spend the night on your ship?” David asked, in confusion. 

“Well, no. I planned to but, well I ran into Paz and spent the night with him instead. What does that have anything to do with the kids?” Din asked, a hint of panic making itself known, looking at Paz to back him up if need be. 

“You  _ weren’t _ at your ship last night?” David asked to confirm. Din found himself getting mad. 

“I just told you ...,” Din said, and took a moment to collect himself. He had to remember that his face wasn’t hidden behind a mask anymore. He took a sip of his coffee, and told them what he remembered of the night before. Paz filled in a few details, finally speaking of only to confirm that they’d gone to his ship and called it a night. 

Nani appeared to stop breathing, and David was looking extremely worried. He finished off his coffee before diving into what exactly had happened the night before, at least from his perspective.

“See, the kids said that they were gonna go spend the night with you. Said they’d gotten your permission and everything. I guess we shoulda made that more clear. It was getting kinda late, so I walked them down to your ship. Just wanted to make sure you were there, you know? Except, I swear you were. Your ship was open, the lights were on and everything. I could even hear someone messing around up in the, uh, the bridge or whatever. I called out, ‘ cause I thought it was you. I mean, who else would it be, right? Anyway, I got the kids inside, and I called up the ladder, all like ‘Hey, Din, it’s us. You up there?’ and, Man I swear it was you. Sounded just like you and everything. ” 

David didn’t get to carry on. Din was out the door, before his coffee mug had shattered on the ground. Paz was hot on his heels. They made it to the  _ Razor Crest _ in record time, crashing through the jungle. The ramp was still down, and the night lights were still blazing brightly. Din raced up the ramp, hoping against hope that his intuition was wrong, that the story he’d heard was fantasy. He’d deal with a week of tantrums, if it meant the child was still on the ship. 

Someone had unrolled and zipped together a set of sleeping bags, laid them out on the floor of the ship. That was about as far as they’d gotten. Din dropped to his knees, as Paz tore up the ladder. The only being laying on the makeshift bed was Stitch, who sleepily rolled over as the ship shook. With tears in his eyes, Din reached up to remove a dart embedded under the blue furry aliens armpit. 

“ _ It’s Kaissed _ ,” He called up the ladder to Paz, moments before the much larger man dropped back down the ladder. He held up the dart for inspection, careful not to prick his finger. Stitch groaned as Din drew him up in his lap. He was starting to go numb. He had failed  _ again _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry. I had to do something dramatic. Please forgive me. We're taking a little break from the fluff, but we'll be back. I saw your ideas for more 'Din discovering how life on Earth works' and it's coming. Just not for a hot second. Meanwhile, I get to invent an alien species. Please air your grievances in the comments. I am here with tissues and deep heartfelt personal apologies.


	8. Hurt and Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The child and Lilo are missing. Din is barely keeping it together. Paz just wants to help. The kidnappers get stupid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! I nearly made myself cry writing a part of this. Din deserves nothing but happiness from here on out, and he's gonna get it. I promise.

Stitch started to wake up as Din carried him back to the house. He had been groggy and confused, which was only natural. He was able to fill in the missing pieces, but the two Mandalorians already had a pretty good picture of what had happened, regardless. Nani and David met them on the fringes of the jungle. They had a million questions, which was understandable but frustrating. Neither Din nor Paz had all the answers that were expected of them. 

Into the house they went, as emotions threatened to boil over. Din dumped a sluggish Stitch on Nani and David before making for his room. He left Paz to play damage control as he armored up. This was all his fault, and he refused to accept a different perspective on the matter. By the time he rejoined the chaotic emergency family meeting, someone had made Stitch a little bed on the same couch he had woken on, what felt like a lifetime ago. Nani and David were sitting on either side, leaving the two Mandalorians to find seats elsewhere. Paz decided to sit on the coffee table as Din stood at attention in front of the bookcase. 

Together, the seasoned warriors began to explain what they could. The Kaissed were an alien race of mostly bounty hunters, another dangerous group that barely survived the Imperial Purge - dangerous in part because they had the ability to mimic any voice, no matter the language. It was one thing that made them proficient bounty hunters, to say the least. They could hide out and entrap someone by imitating someone they’d respond to. The Kaissed were also adept at blow darts, which they often used to kill, though they were also known to use this method to incapacitate the target they needed alive, which they appear to have done to keep Stitch out of the fight. It was obvious that they had been here for the child, but had taken Lilo for some kind of collateral. 

When Stitch was lucid enough, he corroborated essentially the same story. David had accompanied them to Din’s ship. Whoever was up in the bridge, using Din’s voice, had convinced the distraught surfer that there was nothing to worry about, that he’d be down shortly. They’d been setting up a bed for the night when the Kaissed dropped down the ladder. There hadn’t been anywhere to go. The bounty hunter got between them and the ramp, and the kid was too little (and nonverbal) to tell them about the delivery hatch. 

By the time Stitch was done recounting his tale, Din was shaking like a leaf. He was glad he’d put his armor back on, mainly because, for the moment, no one could see his face. There was a buzzing in his ears that he was unable to shake, leaving Paz to try and answer any questions the Pelekais had. He was trying his best to smooth things over, assuring them that this would all be over soon. Din wasn’t listening to any of it or able to contribute in any way. After what felt like a century, he finally had enough. They’d already lost twelve hours. He turned and stormed out of the house, trying and failing to keep it together. He hadn’t made it halfway down the driveway when Paz caught up with him. 

“Where do you think your going?” Paz asked, calling out as he approached his friend. When Din didn’t respond, he reached out to grab his arm. He was all ready when Din retaliated, turning to swing what might have been a nasty punch if Paz hadn’t seen it coming. He pulled the smaller warrior closer, and for a moment there was a pause and a hitched breath. Din let out a shaky breath that rattled in his helmet, taking a moment to compose himself. 

“This is all my fault,” he said, trying his best not to have a breakdown. Not here. Not now. Not in front of  _ Paz _ . 

“We’re not having that. Not here. Now now,” Paz said, as if he could read his thoughts. He turned to lead Din into the jungle. He was just as aware as Din was that they were burning time they simply didn’t have. There was no telling where the Kaissed had gone. The lush vegetation here was thick enough that he hadn’t seen the  _ Razor Crest _ , let alone any other kind of spacecraft. Not to mention that the Kaissed tended to carry camouflaging cloaking gear. It was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack. He didn’t need to tell Din any of that as they made their way back to the IPV-1. 

They just had to hope that the Kaissed were just as lost as he was. The wormhole that had landed Paz somewhere near this planet’s moon had sent his star chart wild. He had calculated that he was more hyper jumps from the covert than was safe for any ship. Even a top of the line Imperial Patrol craft. It was clear that Kaissed had heard the same wild tale that he had and followed up on their intuition, without properly calculating the risks. Maybe that would buy him and Din the time they needed. That was their best hope. 

He gave Din time to decompress, away from the panic the humans exhibited in waves. He finally told his oldest friend what had led to that fateful meeting, the previous evening. The Imperials had come to find the covert, that part he left out. Din already knew about that, and he didn’t need any further grief weighing on his shoulders. None of this was his fault, but try telling him that. Paz had barely escaped with life, staying behind to give the others a chance to escape. He left that part out as well, editing as he went. This all culminated in  _ how _ he had ended up, barefaced, in a random bar on the other side of the island. He had learned the same lesson Din had, just over a month ago. Sometimes the only way to survive in this strangely chaotic and hostile universe is to adapt by modifying the creed that governs your own little corner of the world. In summary, he had chosen to remove his helmet, if only to make a living. 

He had been in Mos Eisley on business when word spread like wildfire. A new bounty hunter had been sharing a fantastical tale about the infamous Mandalorian and the asset he’d stolen from the ex-Imperials. He claimed to have shot out the hyperdrive, sending the Mando spinning until he disappeared in a flash of light. Of course, most dismissed this as the hyped-up stories of an attention hog. Paz had sought out the bounty hunter, and now he was quite certain he hadn’t been the only one. He had been the last though. He made sure of that. And then as unwanted attention was being drawn to his stolen ride, he knew it was high time to leave Tatooine.

He had followed the bounty hunter’s instructions to empty space, but it was pretty clear what he meant. There was a wormhole spinning away, like an open invitation. It was the best lead he’d had in months, so he followed it. He lay low on the dark side of the moon for a few lunar cycles, to make sure he hadn’t been followed. He had taken the late hunters tracking fob, and it had led him ultimately to this tiny island chain. 

Din had been quiet, listening to Paz's tale. It took Vizsla a hot minute to realize that his  _ ori'vod's  _ shoulders were shaking. He was gripping the edge of the bed, and his head was bent. Paz sat down swiftly at his side, wrapping his arms around his shoulders. Din turned and buried his face in his neck, as much as he could. He began to sob. Gut wrenching, body shaking sobs. Paz held him for as long as he needed to cry it out, saying nothing, just offering his support. 

~ ~ ~

After Din had composed himself, the two returned to his ship. Paz took a moment to assess the damage and the most recent repairs. Mentally calculating what they might could pilfer from the ship he’d brought with him, he almost missed the two alien creatures in the bed of the ship. Almost. The only thing that kept them from getting shot was Din’s nonchalant reaction upon seeing them. In fact, he looked even more resigned to his depressed fate. 

“Paz, this is Pleakely and Jumba. Jumba, Pleakely, this is Paz,” he said, making introductions for the second time today. “They’re, uh, friends of the family. They’ve been the ones repairing my ship.”

Paz wasn’t listening to anything Din had to say. Instead, he was studying the larger one called Jumba with piqued interest. He knew him from somewhere but couldn’t quite put his finger on it. “Jumba … Jookiba?”

“That’s  _ Doctor _ Jumba Jookiba to you. And you are?” Jumba asked, clearly not paying attention. That was it. Now Paz remembered. He reached for his blaster before Din could intervene. 

“Paz Vizsla,” Paz said, standing up a little straighter. There had been a bounty out for Jookiba, years ago. A pretty sizable one. Priding himself on being the best hunter his side of the galaxy, Paz had taken up the mantle where many, many others had failed. Much to his embarrassment, not only had this idiot scientist publicly taunted him across several planets, but he'd also managed to slip between his fingers, never to be heard from again. Until now. This wasn't about the bounty anymore; this was personal. 

"Paz," Din said in a tone he reserved only for Paz. He stepped between the former evil scientist and his  _ ori'vod _ . He was practically pressed against Vizsla, slowly prying his fingers off his blaster holster. Paz melted like chocolate in his capable hands, throwing up his hands in surrender. 

" _ Next time, _ " he hissed in his native tongue, directed at Jumba. 

“ _ No, no next time _ ,” Din said, trying to keep Paz calm. “Why don’t you go for a walk? I need to have a talk with them. I’ll just be a minute.” 

Din saw them off fairly quickly, as they had only come to see what help they could offer. He sent them out to find David and Nani. What he needed, more than anything, was some alone time, which he took advantage of as soon as they’d exited his ship into the jungle. He had to hope Paz wasn’t lying in wait for Jumba, but that wasn’t a problem he felt like adding to the list. 

He opened the small room in which he used to keep the child, after they first met, and when he had unwanted company around like the bandits. For a moment, his breath hitched in his chest. He overlooked the workbench he’d padded to make into a bed, long before he’d welcomed the child into his heart, and grabbed what he’d came in here before. He supposed he knew exactly what he intended to do, as he hauled himself up into the cockpit. Still, Din tried to tell himself that he was merely looking for some kind of clue as to where the Kaissed might have gone with the children. 

Instead, among the mangled wreck of the still unrepaired cockpit, he found a toy. It was a little stuffed ortolan that had been gifted to them. The child had been reaching for it, whining and threatening to cry. Din had already been counting their meager funds, again and again in his head. They barely had enough to cover food, fuel, and port fees. There simply wasn’t money for little trinkets, and yet his kid was kicking up a tantrum. He couldn’t exactly explain budgeting to this fifty-year-old toddler. The kindly old man running the booth had seen him crouch down to pick up the little boy, calmly trying to explain that they’d have to get another somewhere else. The child whined, deciding to pout adorably as he snuggled down into his second favorite spot, right in the crook of his elbow. He seemed to understand, but he would make his displeasure about it known. As they were walking away, the man had come around the booth to offer the alluring blue toy, at no cost. It was  _ ad’ika’s  _ favorite toy, after the little ball that came off of one of the levers. He had been almost certain it had been lost in the crash. 

Din bent down to pick up the toy, and that was when he began to see red. He scooped up the toy, clenching it in his fist. As he stood up, he took a hard swipe at his controls with the wrench he had grabbed just for this purpose. He went in for another angry swipe, when something sparked, causing him to pull back and bring an arm up to deflect any blowback. What happened instead was that a voice began to crackle from a radio he’d all but forgotten his ship had. I mean, who used radios anymore when they had holograms? 

“Cypher Squadron to Gamma Leader. We have located the asset. Multiple Mandalorians incoming, Request Backup. Over. Repeat ...” The message looped again, as one of the aforementioned Mandalorians stood, dumbfounded, staring at the radio. That was an X-Wing callsign, but hailing an Imperial Interceptor. Someone who knew that he and Paz were on location. He was willing to hedge a bet that unless this island was crawling with reminders of home, this was the kidnappers. Din swept out of the cockpit, deciding he needed to share this with his  _ aliit _ . 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everybody just needs to let off a little steam every once in a while. I can't say anything in these without spoiling anything, gah. Next chapter, that's when the fun starts. Whose up for a little urbex, volcanic beaches, and slow burn romance?


	9. Heartbreak Hotel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David is a dork, and we love him for it. Din has terrible bedside manner. Paz, just ask him to marry you already, you big lummock. Din is a daddy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote most of this out in like an hour, while vibing to epic Viking music, so enjoy.  
> Mando'a dictionary  
> ori'vod [OH-ree-VOD] ~ Special Friend. Take that as you will.  
> chakaar [chah-KAR] ~ General term of abuse  
> kov’nynir [KOHV-neen] ~ Keldabe Kiss, a soft head-butt. Very affectionate.  
> Ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amur [EEB- toor JAHT-nay toor ASH-ahd-KEE-ram-oor] ~ Today is a good day for someone else to die.  
> buir [boo-EER] ~ father/ papa/ daddy

David leaned back in the captain’s chair, as he listened to the looped broadcast. He had still been up at the house with Stitch, while Nani rode around the island to some of Lilo’s favorite places. The message had been translated and deciphered for him, but he wasn’t listening for that. He had offered his services pertaining to a childhood hobby. Something to do with a radio that was a ham. Neither Mandalorian pressed for further explanation. Things on Earth were just too confusing. 

“I mean, I’d need to see if my Dad’s still got the old gear out in the shed or something,” David warned. “But it sounds close. Like here on Kauai close.” 

“Could you triangulate the signal?” Paz asked, leaning on the dashboard. He took a moment to study the recently inflicted damage. Biting his lip behind the helmet, he turned to look at Din. Din was sitting in the passenger seat, absentmindedly wringing a blue blanket in his hands. Paz had been staking out Jookiba’s ship when Din found him. He hadn’t said anything, just grabbed his hand and dragged him back to the house. 

“Shouldn’t be too hard. Do you know what channel this is?” David asked, turning to look back at Din. There was a pregnant pause. Paz slid down the control panel, leaning down until he was right in Din’s visor. 

“ _ Are you going to be alright _ ,  _ darling _ ?” he asked in a soft tone. It was frighteningly clear that Din wasn’t all the way there. 

“Not until those fucking  _ chakaars _ are dead,” Din growled, looking up. 

~ ~ ~

As it turned out, Din had no idea what a channel even was, let alone what his might have been tuned to. It was no big deal. They met Nani at the bottom of the drive and told her the news. She volunteered to drive up to David’s parents’ place, where she made quick work out of charming David’s father into not only letting her take all his old radio equipment but also helping her load it up in the Jeep. 

They set up shop on the kitchen table. David spent far too long obsessing over the gear, trying to remember why he’d left it to rot. He finally got focused on the task on hand, after an awkward but poignant cough from one of the Mandalorians. He set aside the microphone - that was to mess with later. He set the dial back from whatever it had last been set on to the first frequency available. There was an awkward moment of silence before he reached over to fiddle with the volume control. Since Din didn’t know what his radio on the ship was set to, the only solution David could come up with was to go channel by channel, frequency by frequency, until they found  _ something _ . 

Once he got a feel for what he was doing, it didn’t take long. He flipped channels as easily as he did in the car when he was looking for the right song. They even picked up the local station, which was no big surprise. What was a surprise was that they happened to pick it up in the middle of Elvis’s “Heartbreak Hotel.” Three empty frequencies later, they struck gold. It was mid-transmission, stuck in an endless loop: “ ... Mandalorians incoming. Request backup. Over. Repeat. Cypher ...”

Noting the frequency, David switched it back to the local station. He asked for Paz to reach into the pineapple box the equipment had come in and hand him the first piece of paper he found. After taking a minute to stare at it, he shared it with Din. It was a map of the island, yellowed with age and a little rough at the edges. The island had been criss crossed with a grid pattern. In those little grids were handwritten frequencies. It didn’t take David long to find what he was looking for. 

“Ah-ha! It’s Wailau!” David said, showing the map to Nani. 

“What’s in Wailau?” Din asked, perking up. This was the first solid lead they’d had all day. The couple took a moment to stare at each other. Nani was the first to make a move, walking away and returning a moment later with a book of maps. It was more in depth than the old map on display. She scanned the index before flipping to the proper page. 

“Not much. Just some ruins, and the river,” David said, dismissively, distractedly. 

“No wait. There’s the old hotel. The Coco Palms,” Nani said, spinning the book so the two Mandalorians could have a look at it. “Right there, on the highway, by the river. It’s abandoned now, but Elvis stayed there. Our Dad took us up there. Lilo got a real kick out of it.” 

“Got it,” Din said, shoving the map back. “We’ll be right back.”

“What - what are you talking about? We’re coming with you!” Nani protested. 

“Not a chance in Hell. This mission is already dangerous enough for the children, without you two in the mix.” It was all Din had not to growl at Nani. Even so, he knew he came off as rude the minute he spoke. 

“What he means to say,” Paz said, casually but gently shoving Din around the table and towards the door, “Is that, if it’s alright with you, we’ll handle this ourselves. It’s safer for everyone if you two stay behind. We’ll rescue the children, and let you know as soon as we’re safe.” 

“They’re our kids, too! You can’t just leave us behind!” David protested. 

“Please,” Paz begged. “Let us handle this. We’re the professionals.”

There was some more light protest, but in the end it was agreed that things would go much smoother if Nani and David stayed behind. The Mandalorians made one last stop before returning to Paz’s ship. Jumba and Pleakely were loitering outside of their ship like they had anticipated their arrival. Still, Din felt the need to demand the return of his weapons. He’d stowed the items with them weeks ago, because the children were safer without weapons lying around the house to be mistaken for toys. He was surprised that Jookiba didn’t even pretend to start a fight. A part of him was disappointed. He’d been looking for a reason to argue for his right to bear arms, and now that he had one there wasn’t a fight to be had. Weapons slung between the two of them, the pair continued on their journey. 

“It’ll be overkill at this point,” Paz pointed out after they were well out of earshot. He didn’t know how he’d react if Jookiba agreed with him on something. 

“Hardly. This was all I had in my locker and on my person. We have to hope we still have the element of surprise, to some degree, for this to go off without a hitch,” Din said, anxiety beginning to creep into his voice. 

“I think you forget something,” Paz said, typing commands in the computer on his arm as they approached their ride. He ached to take the  _ Razor Crest _ , for old times sake, but that would have to wait for the next adventure. The ship opened on command, but what awaited to greet them was something awe inspiring. 

With the covert fallen and a direct order for the Armorer to abandon his post, Paz had taken some liberties with the Armory. He refused to let the Imperials plunder the best weapons they had to offer. It had been a challenge, to say the least, to transport this hefty arsenal across a war ravaged galaxy, but he had made due.

“I  _ said _ we were professionals,” Paz said, dumping his handful of Din’s weapons on the bed as he made for the cockpit. He hadn’t been made Heavy Infantry for nothing. 

~ ~ ~

It was only a short jaunt north. The ruined hotel was easily spotted as they flew low. Paz landed the IPV-1 on a small grassy strip, between a car lot and a ruin. They just had to hope that they still maintained an element of surprise. The pair of Mandalorians stuck out as they trekked alongside the road, keeping an eye out for trouble. Unfortunately, they were attracting more attention than they would have liked. From people in the car lot to passers by, stopping, staring and pointing. They stuck out too much, a lesson Din had already taken to heart here. There wasn’t anything he planned on doing about it, though. Not here, not now. 

At the first sign of habitation on either side of the road, they hopped an overgrown fence. On one side was a half-collapsed shed that clearly belonged to the decaying vacancy. On the other, something called a “thrift shop.” As soon as they were clear of the road, they drew their weapons. They had a lot of ground to cover, and the element of surprise would only last so long. Getting the kids out of harm's way was the main priority, which the two men strategized as they lingered on the fringes of the jungle. 

Before they parted ways, Paz took a tender moment. He reached out with his left hand to pull the smaller man close. He leaned in, resting his forehead gingerly on top of Din’s silver helmet, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the tender moment. Din felt his world was spinning around him as he reached up, gingerly enclosing Paz’s upper torso in a hug and leaning into the  _ kov’nynir _ . They stayed there for some moments until a distant crash and a surprised shout caused them to jump apart and point their blasters towards the sound. 

“ _ Ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amur _ ,” Din said, as soon as they ascertained that they hadn’t been made. Paz nodded mutely in response before taking off through the jungle along the perimeter of a pond. Din stayed as low as he could, darting across the shaky wooden bridge that threatened to collapse under him at any moment. Paz was coming around the flank from the other side, as soon as he found a way across the stagnant water. While this kind of large scale invasion was probably better handled with more warriors, Din was just happy to have Paz. Anyway, more bodies would have meant decreased surprise time. The higher chance someone would be spotted, alarms would be raised, and hostages put in imminent danger. Din simply couldn’t take that risk. 

Much to his pleasure, the first place he entered was blown wide open. There weren't any pesky locked doors to shoot out or windows to shatter. Keeping his blaster up, Din slipped into the abandoned ruin. He was close, he could feel it. The kid was around here somewhere; he just had to find out where. He cleared the first building with ease. As he peered through another blown out doorway, he saw a half collapsed covered walkway connecting this building with the one next to it. The tricky part was just how exposed he’d be. The plant life might have grown wild, untamed and aided by the warm, damp climate, but it wasn’t near enough adequate cover. 

There was a collection of small pools lying in an exposed courtyard. On the other side of said courtyard was a set of sad looking bungalows. Each and any one of them could hold a sniper or even a half-assed lookout. Not to mention, from what he could see through the rubble, the door to the center building was somehow still intact. Din withdrew back into the blown out empty hallway, holding up a comm that Paz had given him on the ship. 

“ _ Paz? Where are you?” _ he asked, hoping he didn’t expose his  _ ori’vod _ . There was an uneasy silence. Swallowing his mounting anxiety, Din attempted to hail Paz again. This wasn’t good. Din stowed his blaster, reaching for the rifle he had strapped to his back. He stood a better chance of surviving any sort of attack from across the courtyard with this. Taking a deep breath, he set off under the awning. He side-stepped the collapsed section, which had been smashed by a fallen tree. He kept the tree and the debris it had caused to his left as it provided him the most cover. He was on edge when he finally arrived at the somehow still attached door. Keeping his rifle at his side, he reached for the handle. 

Much to his surprise, there was a give. Not enough that the door opened, but enough to indicate that whatever lock there might have been it wasn’t holding up. With a final tug, Din wrenched the door open, only to have it dry rot in his hands, collapsing to the ground in a pile of soaked, moldy wood. He took a moment to stare at it, a bit dumbfounded. Well, that was easy. He stepped over the disintegrated door. Oddly enough, this building wasn’t in as bad a shape as the others. It still seemed largely intact. In fact, he thought he could hear the faint hum of electricity. That had to be what was powering the radio. He’d deal with that later. 

He was approaching a large opening when his comm finally went off. It was Paz, “ _ I’m alright. I was in a fight. Be careful and hurry. They know we’re here!” _

Well, at least Paz was alive. Din traded his rifle for his blaster again, and approached the opening with more caution. Time was officially running out. He was almost to the lobby when a shot rang out, slamming open a door directly in front of him. Din quickly raced to the opposite side of the hallway, trying to figure out where in Hell that shot had come from, when another shot rang out. It hit him straight in the chest plate, pushing the air out of his lungs and causing him to choke. He made the shooter in an instant. There was a mirror, incredulously unshattered, still hanging on the wall where he’d been approaching from. That’s how they’d seen him coming. But now it gave him their exact location, up on a second story loft. Din wasted no time in throwing his back up against the mirror and making the shot. 

The surprised Kaissed tumbled over the balcony railing, his prone form slamming into the moldy carpet below. That was one down, but how many more to go? There were also the children to worry about ... 

“ _ Buir _ !” Came the pitiful but recognizable cry, echoing from somewhere upstairs. For a moment, Din was paralyzed against the crackling mirror. His breath was still hitched somewhere in his abdomen. If he was not mistaken, the kid had not only just said his first word, but he was calling for him, for his papa. He felt dizzy again. His heart had stopped. His  _ ad’ika  _ was calling for his  _ buir _ . There was another scream from upstairs, a different one.  _ Lilo _ . Din couldn’t stand here trying to put himself back together. 

It didn’t take him long to find the stairs, which he took two at a time. He knew the element of surprise was no longer a thing, but he didn’t care. Someone was going after the kids,  _ his _ kids. He hopped the last step, staggering and slamming pauldron first into the opposite wall. There was another Kaissed. He was much larger than the one Din had shot out of the loft. He had his back to the Mandalorian, too busy wrestling with someone putting up a fight in a nearby room. Din once again traded his blaster for his pulse rifle. He knew for certain there was a shot loaded, because he had loaded it himself before departing Paz’s ship. He took aim, and fired, disintegrating the half-rancor before he knew what hit him. There was a surprised shriek as Din bent to grab his blaster from where he had dropped it. He sprinted into the room, coming up short in the doorway. 

Lilo was picking herself up from the floor, brushing off her signature red and white flowered dress and wiping away tears. She stared at the breathless Mandalorian for a second, as if waiting for him to react first. He took a moment to collect himself, scanning the room, until he saw him. His  _ ad’ika _ was sitting up on a moldy half overturned bed, still sniffing and whimpering, but otherwise seemingly unharmed. 

“Are you alright?” Din asked, holstering his blaster and restrapping his rifle to his back in the same move. He dropped to a knee to address and look over Lilo, before pulling her into a hug. He lifted her up as he stepped further into the room. Din lowered himself onto the mattress, being careful not to send the baby sprawling. The child crawled up into his lap, whimpering and crying softly. “It’s alright. I’m here. Everything’s gonna be fine. I promise.” 

He held them both for a moment longer, before carefully setting Lilo down so he could hail Paz. He was reminded that they still had to  _ escape _ this place, when he heard something explode not far from wherever they were sheltering. 

“ _ Paz, I have the children. They’re safe _ .  _ Where are you _ ?” he asked, careful not to give up their position. He didn’t have to wait as long this time. 

“ _ I’ve made it to the little pools. I think I just killed the last of them. Where are you _ ?” Paz answered. 

Paz met them as they descended the stairs. He introduced himself to Lilo, as sweetly and softly as he could. Din’s  _ ad’ika _ was ready to adopt hi almost immediately, but he was used to seeing people in armor. Din had to pretend he wasn’t a  _ little _ bit jealous, as the child reached out to his new “uncle” within seconds of seeing Paz. Din held him tighter as he shared his plan on how to escape. This had almost been too easy, and neither warrior had made it this far just depending on luck. 

Lilo was nervous but finally accepted being lifted into Paz’s arms. They both needed a hand free to reach their blasters, just in case. Din had Paz show them out the way he’d come in. To avoid having Lilo see the dead alien on the carpet of the main atrium. Paz was first out the door, adjusting Lilo to a more comfortable position. That was how he missed the movement, when a blaster shot skid across the dirt mere inches in front of him. Paz looked up, turning his body to protect the girl as he reached for his blaster. 

There were three of them, Kaiseeds that had managed to avoid the earlier massacre, probably due to cowardice that continued to betray itself. One of them had fired the errant shot as more of a billboard announcing their presence than anything. They might have escaped unnoticed otherwise. Might. They were running the opposite away across the vacant hotel complex, skidding around the small burning cabana. That had to have been what Din had heard exploding. Paz was eager to give chase, before Din reminded him of the more pressing matters at hand. He couldn’t be expected to mind both children, make it back to the ship in one piece, and be of any use  _ on his own _ . 

Still, it wasn’t like they could just let the remaining Kaiseed leave the atmosphere. Not when they had connections to the mpire. They could bring more grief to this galaxy than Din could ever dream of. The Mandalorians rushed back to their ship, which had attracted a bit of a crowd. Din supposed that was the price to pay. They barely made it into the Imperial rust bucket without a few unwanted hitchhikers. There was a moment of hesitation, as they placed their charges on the bed. 

“Go. I got this,” Paz said, admitting once and for all that Din was the better pilot. Not that he’d ever be caught dead saying those exact words aloud. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so the baby has said his first word. It was completely unintentional, but everything Din deserves. Paz is wonderful with children, and I might be planning a tragic backstory as to why? I actually had to cut this chapter in half, so Chapter 10 will be out soon. Maybe even tomorrow, if I don't procrastinate. Please let me know what you think.


	10. All Good Things Must End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The threat is eliminated. Din and Paz start to put a life together. Threats are politely conveyed. Paz gets everything he wants, and then some. Din takes a huge leap, okay a couple of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this. I can promise that this isn't the last we'll see of the Pelekai/ Vizsla clan.   
> Ba’vodu [BAH-vod-oo] ~ Uncle  
> Burc’ya [BOOR-sha] ~ Friend  
> Takisit [tah-KEE-sit] ~ Insult (noun). Fill in your own.   
> Hut’uun [hoo-TOON] ~ Coward   
> Ade [AH-day] ~ Children  
> Birikad [BEER-ee-KAHD] ~ Baby carrying harness.   
> Ni kyr’tayl gai sa’ad [Nee-keer-TAIL guy-sah-ADD] ~ Adoption Vow  
> Cyare [SHAH-ray] ~ Beloved/ Loved.   
> Ni kar’taylir darasuum gar [Nee, kat-tay-LEER da-RAH-soom, gahr] ~ I love you

The child shrieked, as Din rubbed his little ears and turned to dash down to the cockpit. Paz supposed this was warranted, but Din had more pressing matters at the moment. He bent down to grab a go-bag that Din had left earlier while muttering something about the  _ ad’ika _ . 

Upon inspection, it was most of the child’s belongings. It was the little blanket he’d been wringing earlier, a few strange outfits, and a couple of small toys. He fished out both, holding them for inspection and distraction. The child suckled on a tiny closed fist and looked between the open palms of the much larger Mandalorian. In one hand was the tiny metal ball that he treasured more than anything, the first gift he’d gotten from his beloved  _ buir _ . In the other was his stuffed toy that he’d missed sorely since their crash landing. 

He shrieked, making his decision. He reached for both, with such enthusiasm that he nearly tumbled over. This just made him giggle, as Lilo caught him and righted him. He inspected the metal ball before popping it in his mouth. He cuddled his other toy, as the ship around them began to hiss, scream faintly and shake, taking off in a straight ascent faster than its cooling engines were ready for. That was one major downfall to this model, Paz had discovered. Minus the fact that is was an  _ Imperial _ ship. Lilo gasped, deciding to cling to Paz as the ship shook violently. There was some muted but violent cursing from up in the cockpit. 

“It’s going to be alright, little ones,” Paz said, softening his voice, as he tried to drown out the anger up in the cockpit. He took a moment, deciding that neither of them would ever be around anyone who could repeat these words back to him in a mocking tone. “Din knows what he’s doing. Everything’s going to be alright. I trust him, as you should.” 

“How do you know Uncle Din?” Lilo asked, before becoming distracted. The child had poked her knee and was offering his favorite soft toy. He had sensed her anxiety and felt it only fair that he return the same favor she had granted him. “Oh, thank you. You keep that.” 

“ _Ba’vodu_ _Din_?” Paz said, fighting back a mighty roar of a laugh. “He’s my oldest _burc’ya._ My _ori’vod_. My best friend,” he simplified when Lilo looked at him in confusion. “I’ve known him since he was rescued. A foundling, like this little womp rat.” 

“ _ Buir _ ,” The child cooed, looking back up to the cockpit expectedly. Paz was floored. As far as he knew, this was the kid’s first word. He decided not to tell Din, who would be heartbroken if he heard he’d missed this milestone. 

“That’s right! Din is your  _ buir _ . I expect that makes  _ me _ your  _ ba’vodu _ . Can you say  _ ba’vodu, ad’ika _ ?” The child just babbled nonsense, like that hadn’t happened. Paz decided it was easier this way. He would talk again, he was certain, he just had to hope Din was close enough to hear. 

They didn’t sit in silence. Lilo had a million questions, just like her parents. At least, that’s who Paz assumed Nani and David were. A little young, sure, but who was he to question it? The child even had a few, it seemed, but no one could answer them. Not for lack of trying. Lilo and Paz both pretended to have answers, making it up as they went. It was a nice distraction, as a gun battle broke out from the cockpit. Paz was always a moment from leaving the kids alone to give Din a hand. 

“Take  _ that _ , you  _ takisit hut’uun _ ,” Din snarled, in his own little world. Paz had to stop himself from covering the kid’s wide ears. It was a miracle his first word was  _ buir _ , with what must surely be a menagerie of colorful language on full display. “They’re going down! We need to make sure they stay that way.” 

~ ~ ~

Landing this beast was harder than it looked. It had been a nightmare getting the thing off the ground, as it was. Din supposed he should have expected landing to be just as much of a headache. His victory over watching the faster, smaller ship lose an engine, sputter back into full view, and start a spinning nosedive towards the ocean, was short-lived. He had to ensure every single member of the invasion party that had almost ripped his newfound family to shreds was untenably dead. 

They were coming in on a black sand beach, like something from Mustafar. Din managed to land in the (thankfully) empty car lot. He’d already spotted at least one more extremely lucky Kaiseed making it out of the ocean. Paz had been right earlier when he said this would be overkill. He supposed he could have sat here, taking them out like some kind of festival game, but that just wouldn’t do. Din skidded back into the bedroom to find Paz holding the child, with Lilo climbing up his back. They were acting as if he’d crash-landed  _ again _ . It hadn’t been that bad. Nothing was burning. 

It was decided that the kids were safest on the ship. The Mandalorians were confident that this would be easy pickings. Even so, Din couldn’t help but be anxious as the ramp closed behind them. That anxiety only lasted until the first blaster shot flew between them and dinged off the armor of the cruiser. Then he was back to his unquenched thirst for blood. 

Two out of the three Kaiseed survived the crash, for all that was worth. The second Kaissed was quickly cut down, and to be honest it wasn’t clear who fired the fatal shot. The third and final Kaissed, though, proved to be trickier. Not an impossible challenge, but a challenge nonetheless. Sheer dumb luck, to be honest, and he had finally hit the bottom of the well. Especially right about when he decided to take his chances going after the shorter Mandalorian. Of course, this was entirely up to plan, just not his plan. 

Din dropped to his knees, sliding across the black volcanic rock, just as they prepared to run into Paz. This had been Paz’s idea, and at this point they were just playing with their food, so to speak. I mean, why go for the easy kill when you could go the fun one instead? So focused on his target, the Kaiseed didn’t see the larger Mandalorian with the electronic pulse rifle until it was too late. In the quickly approaching darkness, he lit up like a Christmas tree. Still twitching, the doomed bounty hunter hit the ground, where Din was waiting, with the Vibro blade he’d pulled from his boot. He’d never enjoyed taking a life with his own hands quite so much as this. 

Paz pulled him up to his feet, and for a moment they stood there. Din was perfectly relaxed in Paz’s arms, just lost in the moment. He reached out with his right hand, pulling the taller Mandalorian down into another  _ kov’nynir.  _ They threatened to fall into the sand, had the ship they’d come in not suddenly erupted in floodlights. Nearly dropping Din, Paz turned to glare accusingly at the cockpit, trying to figure out, behind the bright lights, which one of the  _ ade _ had ruined a perfect moment. 

Din coughed and straightened up, keeping a hand on Paz’s pauldron as if he was afraid he would disappear, “We should get them home.” 

~ ~ ~

The Pelekai house had never been this crowded. Paz only stayed the night to give not only himself but the others some comfort. He would crash on the couch, arguing Din back into his cot. Not that he did much sleep. There was simply too much thinking to do. It had been a chaotic 24 hours, to say the least. He ended up wandering the house, checking on the slumbering individuals of the household. 

Lilo and Stitch were passed out in a pillow fort. Paz got a bit of a start when Stitch opened his eyes. They glowed bright green in the dark, completely devoid of pupils. It was a bit unsettling. He hissed something in a language the Mandalorian didn’t recognize, yawned, turned in a circle and settled back down against Lilo. He would have some very serious questions for Jumba and Pleakely in the morning. 

He stood in the doorway to Din’s room the longest. Din had stripped out of the armor almost as soon as they’d gotten inside the house. Din was fast asleep, though as the faintest light trickled into the room, his fingers slipped under his pillow like he was reaching for his weapon. The child was curled up on his chest, wrapped in the blue blanket and fast asleep. One tiny green foot had kicked free and was twitching lightly on his  _ buir’s _ stomach as he whimpered in his sleep. Tiny claws wrapped tighter around the stuffed ortolan. His face scrunched up and he let out a little whine. Din rolled over, as if reacting to this little outburst, unconsciously shifting the child higher up his chest. 

For a little while, at least, all was calm.

~ ~ ~

Din and Paz found themselves drifting from the house, as chaos reigned king. They ended up at the  _ Razor Crest _ . The baby was sitting backward in Din’s arms so he could look out on the world. He was chatty this morning, babbling his usual nonsense. Paz was waiting for him to drop his ‘first word’ just so he could treasure Din’s reaction. The Mandalorian pair found themselves in the cockpit, which had suffered the most damage. 

At first, they tried passing the baby between them in a  _ birikad _ , but this proved an impossible task. The baby enjoyed his perch on their chests, but it put him in the perfect (and precarious) position to grab at wires which, of course, he had to put in his mouth. He had fussed as Din fished him out of the harness. Din tried to calm the  _ ad’ika _ with whispers of sweet nothings, as he sat him down on his blue blanket on the chair he usually frequented. As Din tried to placate the belligerent toddler, Paz fashioned a quick toy out spare wires, pleased to see the child adopted with glee.

For a little while at least. Din was lying under the consol, as Paz fiddled with switches and passed him tools. He caught a flash of green out of the corner of his visor as the baby dropped from his chair. He was about to warn Paz when there came an amused chuckle from the larger warrior. 

“You’re going to be a little engineer, aren’t you,  _ cyar’ika _ ?” Paz asked, his voice still light with laughter. 

“ _ He’s going to be trouble, _ ” Din muttered, as a tiny hand grabbed at his bent knee. There just weren’t any easy places to put his long legs. Paz’s booming laugh seemed to startle the baby, who peeped and slapped his other hand on Din’s leg. “Easy,  _ cyar’ika _ .” 

“You know, I think it’s the radio he wants,” Paz observed after he calmed down. This made sense. The child had grown accustomed to the music Lilo almost always had playing. Paz took a moment to fiddle with the ancient technology. The station that had given away the kidnappers lair had gone dead sometime yesterday - much like the kidnappers. It didn’t take long to rotate around to the local station David had swept over. 

It was playing another Elvis song. “Stuck on You,” to be exact. The child began to coo and sway to the music like he was trying to dance. Paz began to laugh, setting his tools aside so he could grab the child’s tiny hands. He walked him closer, holding him up as he danced. Din straightened his leg, crossing it over his other leg, so he could watch this. He folded a hand over his stomach, the other tucked behind his head as he grinned from ear to ear. He was thankful for the helmet because his cheeks were burning. 

“I seem to be interrupting quite the party,” came a strange, new voice. Paz was on his feet before the woman it belonged to had fully entered the room. He had drawn the baby into his arms and was reaching for his blaster. “There’s no need for that, Heavy Infantry. I do not come to cause you harm.”

Din was next on his feet, though he wasn’t nearly as graceful. In his rush, he had tried to sit up too fast, slamming his head into the underside of his console. Seeing stars, he slid out and stood in one fluid movement. He didn’t recognize the species of the strange woman standing in his cockpit, but he couldn’t mistake the air of authority she carried. He stiffened, his shoulders rolling back, his pain forgotten as he automatically stood at attention, “Who are you?” 

“I am the Grand Councilwoman of the United Galactic Federation. Which one of you is the Mandalorian Din Djarin?” she asked in a cool tone. Paz had yet to move away from his blaster, waiting on Din’s reaction. 

“That would be me. Pleakely’s mentioned your organization.”  _ Only a few hundred times _ , Din added to himself. He glanced over at Paz and gave him a small hand signal. It wasn’t an order to stand down, so to speak, but to stay on his guard. 

“Is there something we can help you with?” Paz asked, handing the child over to Din. Behind his back, he returned another signal.

“You must be Paz Vizsla,” the Grand Councilwoman said, with a smile that didn’t convey an ounce of warmth. “Do you two have any idea the headache you caused with the mess you left behind?” 

The pair bristled, seemingly surprised at the admonishment. Paz growled, softly, once again reaching for his blaster. Din wasn’t as keen to stop him this time. 

“We did you a favor,” Din said angrily. “Those Kaiseed had connections with the Empire. You have no idea the grief they would bring to this galaxy."

“I have no doubt you  _ thought _ you were doing some kind of favor, but things work differently here. This planet is protected, and with that comes some ground rules. You can’t blast around the islands, shooting spaceships out of the sky and leaving aliens for humans to find,” the Grand Councilwoman complained, frowning. 

“What are a few dead Kaiseed?” Paz snorted. 

“I don’t think you understand the ramifications of what you set out to do. I understand things work differently where you’re from, but you’re on Earth now. This planet is protected. Its people are protected. I will not have two upstart bounty hunters wreaking havoc over a squabble,” she warned. 

“Is that a threat?” Paz asked, finally deciding to draw his blaster. 

“I meant what I said when I told you there would be no need for that. I am merely stating facts. You two are welcome to establish a home here, with your splendid child, but you  _ will _ adhere to certain rules. There’s no need for any tension between us. As an understanding of said peace, I’ve had the Kaissed’s ship towed to a nearby private beach for you to dispose of as you see fit. Jookiba and Pleakely know where it is. Defer to them if you have any further questions.” With that, the Grand Councilwoman was gone. 

“Over my dead body,” Paz growled, as he stuffed his blaster back in its holster. 

“Paz ...,” Din said, turning to his  _ ori’vod.  _ He decided to distract him from his anger, by dumping the child on him. It worked perfectly because Paz had to struggle not to drop the wiggly child, who was itching to be put down. 

~ ~ ~

Din knew that eventually he might be forced to intervene in the brewing fight between Paz and Jumba. Someone was going to force his hand, and to be honest, he wasn’t sure who he’d side with. It had nearly come to blows as they scrapped the wrecked ship. Jumba tried to stake a claim on anything Paz so much as side-eyed, claiming to need it for his experiments. Pleakely was forced to intervene, only because Din was outside with the child. An agreement was reached, which left Paz purring like a loth-cat. What could be used to repair the  _ Razor Crest _ would be used. With only an engine of the Kaissed ship destroyed beyond repair, there was more than enough to get the  _ Crest _ back to her prime. They’d even won the rights to the camo-tech. Because, to be frank, Pleakely wasn’t great at standing on his four feet. Paz was almost sure he could have negotiated for the entire ship if that struck his fancy. It was Din calling from outside that brought negotiations to a close. 

He found Din crouching in the shallows with the child, who was entertained by the waves. They had brought the little boy, only because he’d cried when they’d tried to leave him with his playmates. Din seemed happier, anyway, with the baby in arm’s reach. They had a very close bond, that was undeniable. 

“Is everything alright?” Paz asked, after watching them for a moment. 

“Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?” Din asked, in his own little world. He lifted the child onto his hip. “I just wanted to ask if you wanted to watch the sunset with us before I take him back for supper.” 

“You and your sunsets ...” Paz said, with an over-dramatic sigh. He regarded the sinking sun, and the long shadows it cast. “It would mean the world. Why don’t we find somewhere nice?” 

They settled somewhere halfway between the discarded wreck and the easy jungle hike back to the house. All Paz cared about was that Jumba and Pleakely weren’t loitering nearby, ruining the moment. He didn’t share these thoughts with Din, as they settled on the soft sand of the beach. The child was sitting between them, inventing a small game with a stick and a seashell he’d found. With a contented sigh, Din reached up to remove his helmet. The move caught Paz somewhat by surprise. There was still something about it that felt wrong. Din cast him a look, before turning to plant the helmet in the sand. 

“This feels nice,” Paz said, leaning back on his hands. He didn't know why he was chattering, but he couldn't stop.”Just the three of us. I mean, we couldn’t ask for more perfect weather.” 

“Do you know why I enjoy the sunset?” Din asked as he rolled over to his side. Propping himself up on one elbow. Paz couldn’t come up with an answer, so he turned to study his dark-haired friend, his expression as neutral as he could muster. Even with the helmet still on, he knew Din could read his emotions. “It means I survived another day. No matter what happened today, none of it matters. Because tomorrow is another day. I don’t care what tomorrow brings, just so long as I get to see the sunset one last time.” 

“ _ Buir _ !” The baby gasped as if suddenly remembering that his father was laying behind him. He turned to slap sandy hands on Din’s lower leg, a mischievous grin on his face. Din was distracted, sitting up to address the child, his child. He had been almost certain that the cry he’d heard in the hotel had all been in his head. A misinterpreted babble. The same feelings threatened to consume him all over again. His  _ ad’ika _ ’s first word, as selfish as that sounded, had been about him. 

“Do you think it’s time?” he asked, turning back to Paz. He almost missed that the larger Mandalarian was no longer wearing his helmet. He had taken advantage of Din’s joyful distraction to bare his face. 

“That’s up to you,” the dirty blonde warrior said, copying the same pose Din had been striking only moments earlier. Din turned back to the baby, his heart seizing. Then it occurred to him that there was something different to his right. He turned back, and his heart threatened to give out. 

“ _ You _ ...” he rasped before Paz held up a finger. 

“Focus on your boy. Do what makes you happy. I’m just wall art,” Paz said, unable to hide the grin crossing his face. Din couldn’t decide whether to kiss him, hit him or both. Instead, he turned back to the baby who was oblivious to what was happening behind him. 

Din gently lifted the boy, turning him around so he was facing them. The baby cooed, hanging loosely in his gentle hands. He sat him down, as his hands started to shake. This was all too much. A seed of doubt had been sewn by who knows what, and it was trying to tell him that he was rushing things. 

“ _ Ad’ika _ ,” he said, in a serious voice so the baby would focus on him, instead of finding distraction in the nearest shiny object. A part of him was cursing himself for not naming the child before now. He supposed this was how he lived his life, all backward and wrong. He took a deep breath and took the baby by the hands. “ _ Ni kyr’tayl gai sa’ad _ ,  _ cyare _ .  _ Ni kar’taylir darasuum gar _ .” 

“ _ Gai bal manda _ ,” Paz said, acting as a witness to the heart-wrenching ceremony. 

“ _ Buir _ ,” The child cooed, a soft, sad and inquisitive tone as he leaned forward to brush his hands up his father's arms. He couldn’t understand why the man he loved with all his heart was crying, tears rolling down his cheeks as he shook with barely repressed sobs. Din couldn’t take it anymore. He reached down and pulled the baby up against his chest. 

Din was already leaning for him, as Paz sat up to pull the smaller man into his arms. Paz hesitated, before leaning down to press the tenderest of kisses on those dark curls. There was a funny noise from the receiver of said adoration. Din knew what he had to do next, and if he hesitated for even a second too long the moment would be forever gone.

It was Din who initiated the kiss, turning as he slid further down Paz’s chest plate. With one hand keeping his newly-adopted ward secured in his lap, he reached back with his free hand. He gingerly cupped the back of Paz’s neck, bringing him down to his level. For the first time in his life, Din pressed his lips against those of another. Paz melted into the kiss, turning and pulling Din closer so he could taste every inch of those delicious lips. They could stay like this forever, as far as the other was concerned. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is end of the beginning, but not the beginning of the end. I accept comments in keyboard slam. I already have *most* of the sequel planned. Hell, I even have a title. I love you all.


End file.
